About the Author
About the Author
John Steinbeck (1902-68)
John Steinbeck was born in California in 1992. He developed a great love for reading and literature because of his mother who was a teacher. He studied at Stanford University in California before moving to New York in 1925. There, he worked for a short time as a journalist before becoming a writer.
He wrote many short stories and novels. In 1930, he became friends with a scientist, Ed Ricketts. Together, they explored the marine life along the shores of California Baja, which became the setting for some of his stories, including The Pearl. His first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929, but it was not until 1937 and the publication of his novel, Of Mice and Men, that Steinbeck was seen as one of the most exciting writers of the day.
His novels are mainly tales of struggle and hardship among the poor. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, won him the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1940. In 1962, he was also awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for literature. He continued writing well into the 1960s. His other novels include To a God Unknown, The Red Pony, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row and East of Eden. He died in 1968.