Citizen Steinbeck: Giving Voice to the People

McParland (English, Felician Univ.; Beyond Gatsby) provides a comprehensive overview of the life and work of John Steinbeck (1902–68). Yet, what makes this critical study different from other treatments of the novelist is the emphasis on what McParland calls "the public value of Steinbeck's work" and "what readers today may discover in his stories." The author is particularly interested in how teachers instruct their students to value the relevance of Steinbeck's novels to their lives today, especially such classics as Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, The Pearl, and The Grapes of Wrath. McParland's work is up-to-date; he mentions the 2016 presidential debates and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to emphasize the pertinence of Steinbeck's social and ecological views, and why it is important to teach his literature. The author analyzes not only Steinbeck's fiction but also his nonfiction to illustrate how he addressed the controversies of his day.