Steinbeck, John Ernst (1902-1968)

US novelist. His realist novels, such as In Dubious Battle (1936), Of Mice and Men (1937), and The Grapes of Wrath (1939; Pulitzer Prize; filmed 1940), portray agricultural life in his native California, where migrant farm labourers from the Oklahoma dust bowl struggled to survive. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.

Born in Salinas, California, Steinbeck worked as a labourer to support his writing career, and his experiences supplied him with authentic material for his books. He first achieved success with Tortilla Flat (1935), a humorous study of the lives of Monterey paisanos (farmers). His early naturalist works are his most critically acclaimed. Later books include Cannery Row (1944), The Wayward Bus (1947), East of Eden (1952), Once There Was a War (1958), The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), and Travels with Charley (1962). He also wrote screenplays for films, notably Viva Zapata! (1952). His best-known short story is the fable ‘The Pearl’.