A John Steinbeck Reader

Essays in Honor of Stephen K. George

Barbara A. Heavilin

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Year: 2009
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216348429
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Essays
• Index: Literature

Celebrating the all-too-brief life of a young scholar dedicated to Steinbeck studies, A John Steinbeck Reader: Essays in Honor of Stephen K. George gathers essays from various vantage points including aesthetic, feminist, ethical, and comparative perspectives. Under the direction of Barbara A. Heavilin, George's coeditor of The Steinbeck Review journal and the book, John Steinbeck and His Contemporaries, the authors of these articles have come together both to pay tribute to Stephen and to widen the range of Steinbeck scholarship. Included in this volume are works by two acclaimed poets, as well as insightful readings of a little known early short story and an unsuccessful novel by Steinbeck.

In addition to George, who is represented here with an essay on societal ethics, and Heavilin, who writes about Travels with Charley, the contributors to this volume include: Mary Brown, Danica Cerce, Mimi Gladstein, Charlotte Hadella, Tetsumaro Hayashi, Luchen Li, Michael J. Meyer, Kyoshi Nakayama, Brian Railsback, Thom Satterlee, Stephen L. Tanner, and John H. Timmerman.

Designed for both a general and a professional audience, this collection will delight the Steinbeck buff, enlighten the Steinbeck student, and provides an array of topics, views, and approaches for Steinbeck scholars and teachers. While acknowledging one of its most devoted scholars, A John Steinbeck Reader will also be a welcome addition to the wealth of Steinbeck studies.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword. In Memory of Stephen K. George
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1. Poetic Views of Two Steinbeck Characters
• Chapter 1. Contented—for Mary Hawley (And, in Another Way, for Stephen George)
• Chapter 2. A Dialogue with Steinbeck's Lee Concerning Servanthood Timshel, and Immortality through Words
• Part 2. Steinbeck, Aesthetics, and Ethics
• Chapter 3. The Contemporary Nature of Steinbeck's Winter: Artistry, Integrity, and September 11
• Chapter 4. "Only through Imitation Do We Develop towards Originality": Reflections of Addison's Spectator in Steinbeck's Travels with Charley
• Chapter 5. Charley, America, and Malory: John Steinbeck's Later Ethics
• Part 3. Steinbeck, the Eyes of a Child, and Lonely Ladies
• Chapter 6. Through the Eyes of a Child: A Steinbeck Forte
• Chapter 7. Lonely Ladies and Landscapes: A Comparison of John Steinbeck's "The White Quail" and Eudora Welty's "A Curtain of Green"
• Part 4. Steinbeck, the American Ideal, Politics, and War
• Chapter 8. Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent and the American Ideal
• Chapter 9. Art for Politics: The Political Dimension of Steinbeck's Works in Eastern Europe
• Chapter 10. John Steinbeck as Lyndon B. Johnson's Speech Writer
• Part 5. Steinbeck, Culture, Viewpoints, a Grand Joke, and a Meditative Reading
• Chapter 11. John Steinbeck's Cultural Frontiers
• Chapter 12. It's All in Your Head: Transforming Heavenly and Hellish Settings in Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven
• Chapter 13. The Short, Happy Life of Pippin IV: The Grand Joke
• Chapter 14. "Fingers of Cloud: A Satire on College Protervity": A Meditative Reading
• Index
• About the Contributors
• About the Editor