The Critical Response to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: (Critical Responses in Arts and Letters)

When it was initially published in 1939, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath instantly became a bestseller. Like many phenomenally popular works, it has elicited a wide range of critical responses. Some earlier reviewers faulted Steinbeck for his apparent sentimentality, while others were disturbed by his portrait of heartless, greedy Americans. Others, too, criticized his aesthetics. His novel became an important part of the American curriculum, many readers praised his epic vision, and modern critics have tended to respond favorably to his works. But despite the publication of four new editions of the book from 1989 to 1997, its place in the American literary canon is precarious. Through reprints of early reviews and scholarly articles, along with original essays and reviews of the four most recent major editions, this volume traces the critical reception of Steinbeck's novel. The first part of the book looks back at the first 50 years of the novel's reception, from 1939 to 1989, while the second examines the response to Steinbeck during the 1990s. Some of these later essays reflect on the lasting significance of the novel, while others note that some scholars and educators have questioned its relevance. The volume includes a chronology and bibliography, and an extensive introductory essay overviews the major trends in Steinbeck scholarship.

Table of Contents:
Series Forward by Cameron Northouse Preface Introduction 1939-1989 Looking Back on the First Fifty Years Review: The Grapes of Wrath: The Tragedy of the American Sharecropper by Charles Lee Review: The Grapes of Wrath Tops Year's Tales in Heart and Art by Charles Lee Review: Farm Tenancy Central Theme of Steinbeck by Fritz Raley Simmons John Steinbeck: Naturalism's Priest by Woodburn R. Ross Proletarian Leanings by George F. Whicher "The Grapes of Wrath" by Joseph Fontenrose Steinbeck and Hemingway: Suggestions for a Comparative Study by Peter Lisca Water Imagery and the Conclusion to The Grapes of Wrath by Collin G. Matton John Steinbeck's Spatial Imagination in The Grapes of Wrath by George Henderson Dialogic Structure and Levels of Discourse in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath by Louis Owens and Hector Torres The Squatters' Circle in The Grapes of Wrath by John H. Timmerman 1990-1999 Looking Forward to a New Millennium Steinbeck's Debt to Dos Passos by Barry G. Maine The World of Steinbeck's Joads by Robert Murray Davis Poor Whites: Joads and Snopses by Abby H.P. Werlock California Answers The Grapes of Wrath by Susan Shillinglaw Audience and Closure in The Grapes of Wrath by Nicholas Visser The Darwinian The Grapes of Wrath by Brian E. Railsback The American Cain and Steinbeck's Shifting Perspective by Barbara A. Heavilin A Postmodern Steinbeck, or Rose of Sharon Meets Oedipa Mass by Chris Kocela Steinbeck and His Critics: A Study in Artistic Self-Concept by Michael Meyer The Grapes of Wrath and the Literary Canon of American Universities in the Nineties by Mary Brown The Enduring Values of Steinbeck's Fiction: The University Student and The Grapes of Wrath by Kenneth Swan Review: Honoring an American Classic: Viking's 1989 Edition of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath by Linda Pelzer Review: The 1993 Everyman's Library Edition of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath by Barbara A. Heavilin Review: The 1996 Library of America Edition of John Steinbeck: "The Grapes of Wrath" and Other Writings by Barbara A. Heavilin Review: Viking's 1997 Edition of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath": Text and Criticism by Beverly K. Simpson Fermenting The Grapes of Wrath: From Violent Anger Distilling Sweet Concord by Michael Meyer Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
BARBARA A. HEAVILIN is Associate Professor of English at Taylor University.