Tag Archives: biography

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Between the Lines Book Club: John Steinbeck

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This month on Between the Lines we are discussing The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.  Leave comments here, or better yet join us at Arden Dimick Library in Sacramento, CA at 2PM on September 28, 2014.

John Steinbeck’s life and writings are deeply tied to California.  Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, in 1902.  He attended Stanford University on and off for six years before officially dropping out.  After trying to earn a living as a freelance writer in New York City, he came back to California, married Carol Henning, and became a caretaker at Lake Tahoe.  During the Great Depression, he moved to Pacific Grove, where he fished and crabbed and wrote with paper and money provided by his parents.

Steinbeck family home

The home in which Steinbeck was raised is now a museum and restaurant.

Steinbeck’s first hit was his fifth book, Tortilla Flat.  This book concerns a group of friends who live in an impoverished  neighborhood on the outskirts of Monterey.  Although the book was a commercial success, Steinbeck felt it was misunderstood, claiming that he did not mean to belittle or patronize his characters.  Steinbeck’s next three novels, In Dubious Battle, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath directly addressed the Great Depression.  His next book, Cannery Row, was a fictionalized description of life in Monterey.  The character “Mary Talbot”, the depressed wife of a struggling writer, is based on Steinbeck’s wife, Carol.  The character “Doc” is based on Steinbeck’s best friend, Ed Ricketts.

Carol and John

Carol and John

Steinbeck was a war correspondent in WWII.  He travelled through Europe, North Africa, and Italy, writing human interest pieces about the lives of soldiers.You can read more about his service in WWII in this article from San Jose University.  Steinbeck also covered the war in Vietnam.  Despite his life-long leftist leanings, Steinbeck was in favor of the Vietnam War, which two of his sons fought in.

Steinbeck in Vietnam

Steinbeck died at the age of 66 in 1968, of heart failure.  He had written 29 books as well as plays and screenplays.  He cited William Faulker and Ernest Hemingway as the authors he most admired.  He is buried at Salinas, California, home of the John Steinbeck Museum.

You can see a short video about Steinbeck’s life on biography.com

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Book Review: The Real Jane Austen: A Life In Small Things

Cover of The Real Jane Austen, A Life in Small ThingsThe Real Jane Austen:  A Life In Small Things is a delightful, entertaining biography of Jane Austen that challenges the popular image of her as a provincial prude.  This is a relatively short book, packed with information, and so much fun to read due to the chatty tone and the organization of the book, which allows the author to focus on individual topics of interest rather than a strictly linear chain of events.

Here’s a few things I learned about Jane:

  • Jane travelled all throughout England, and somewhat into Wales.  She didn’t travel overseas because during most of her adult life England was at war with France and overseas travel was restricted.
  • She loved children, but seems to have been sufficiently concerned about the discomforts of pregnancy, the dangers of childbirth, and the time-consuming nature of mothering to genuinely not have wanted her own, even though she just as genuinely loved her godchildren, nieces, and nephews.
  • Jane was no country mouse.  She spent a great deal of time in London, which she enjoyed very much, and Bath, which was a large tourist center.
  • She liked the night life!  Jane attended many a ball, loved to dance, and loved the theater.  She had quite a few male followers.  She seems to have remained single out of choice rather than necessity.
  • Jane was well-known and greatly admired during her lifetime and although at first she said she wanted to be anonymous, she grew to enjoy being known.  During her life as after her death, her most popular novel was Pride and Prejudice.

This was the first biography of Jane I’ve read, and I felt it gave me good insight into her life and personality.  However, it’s not intended to take the place of a more linear biography, and there were areas in which I felt a little lost.  If you have a serious interest in the life of Jane Austen, I’d suggest you read this along with another, more conventional biography.  If you want just want some insight into Jane Austen, this book should work for you just fine on its own.  I found it to be a fast, fun, informative read.

Portrait of JAne Austen from the back

The only undisputed portrait of Jane Austen, rendered by her beloved older sister, Cassandra