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Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage
Carol Henning Steinbeck, writer John Steinbeck's first wife, was his creative anchor and the inspiration for his great works of the 1930s, which culminated with the publication of The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. When Carol and John met at Lake Tahoe in 1928, their personalities immediately meshed in creative synergy. In the next decade, the formative years that brought forth The Red Pony and Of Mice and Men, Carol and John lived in San Francisco, Eagle Rock, Pacific Grove, and Los Gatos. Their modernist circle of friends included Ed Ricketts, Joseph Campbell, John Cage, and Lincoln Steffens. But above all it was Carol who was essential in helping the novelist find his voice, leading him to write of his home, California, and the plight of the people around him. In many ways, Carol's story is all too familiar: a creative and intelligent woman subsumes her own life and work into those of her husband. Together, they brought forth one of the most enduring novels of the twentieth century. Susan Shillinglaw's extensive research for this biography included new interviews as well as previously unpublished Steinbeck and Ricketts manuscripts and letters, and Carol Henning's own artworks, scrapbooks, and poetry. Carol and John Steinbeck is the first book to focus on the writer's first marriage and its decisive early influences on his work.
Book Details
- Publisher: University of Nevada Press
- Publish Date: Nov 19th, 2024
- Pages: 312
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.90in - 6.14in - 0.94in - 1.05lb
- EAN: 9781647791803
- Categories: • Literary Figures• Women• Memoirs
About the Author
Susan Shillinglaw, one of the leading experts on John Steinbeck's life and work, directed the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University from 1987 to 2005, and the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas from 2015 to.2018. She is coeditor of John Steinbeck's America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction; Steinbeck and the Environment; as well as Steinbeck's Uneasy America: Re-Reading Travels with Charley. She is also the author of A Journey into Steinbeck's California, On Reading the Grapes of Wrath. She is professor emerita of English at San Jose State University, where she was named President's Scholar. Currently, she serves on the boards of Western Flyer Foundation and the Tor House Foundation.
Praise for this book
"In Portrait of a Marriage, Shillinglaw sets out to reveal the impact Carol Henning Steinbeck (1906-83) had on John Steinbeck's (1902-68) early works, particularly The Grapes of Wrath. This marks the first time Shillinglaw, or any academic for that matter, has so comprehensively researched the role Carol Steinbeck played in the literary work of her husband. Through extensive research, she tracks the creative synergy of the Steinbeck partnership, which inspired some of the greatest works in the American literary canon."
--Resources for American Literary Study
--Resources for American Literary Study
"Scholars and fans of John Steinbeck are fortunate to have two fine biographies available--Jackson Benson's (1990) and Jay Parini's (1995). . . . And now another indispensable source can be placed beside these classics, Susan Shillinglaw's Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage published by the University of Nevada Press."
--Tom Barden, The Steinbeck Review, Fall 2013
--Tom Barden, The Steinbeck Review, Fall 2013
"Nobody knows more or writes better about the life of Steinbeck than Susan Shillinglaw . . . Her superb scholarship and elegant style are equally evident in Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage, the biography of Steinbeck's marriage to Carol Henning, a Jazz Age rebel with a Great Depression conscience. As Shillinglaw observes, John and Carol were no Scott and Zelda. But their dramatic story book reads like a novel -- unfortunately, one with a similarly unhappy ending."
--William Ray, Steinbeck Now
--William Ray, Steinbeck Now
"A fascinating story that needs to be made known widely . . . Not just the story of Carol and her relationship to John, but a new and revealing look at Steinbeck himself. So much is new here, and the manuscript pushes so deep into the lives of the Steinbecks, that it might well become the primary biography of that period."
--Jackson Benson, author of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography
--Jackson Benson, author of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography
"Shillinglaw's primary research makes this book impressive, and her writing is wonderfully clear and effective. A book that will appeal both to sophisticated scholars and the general public. I loved this book!"
--Melody Graulich, editor of Western American Literature
--Melody Graulich, editor of Western American Literature
"Fascinating as it lays open the background of two intriguing personalities"
--New York Journal of Books
--New York Journal of Books
"Shillinglaw -- resident scholar at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas and professor of English at San Jose State -- draws a compelling portrait of this intelligent modern woman."
--San Jose Mercury News "As biographer Susan Shillinglaw reminds us in her insightful, important, and necessary new work, there was a time when the man who wrote The Grapes of Wrath was a mere struggling writer; an acknowledged talent, yes, but always on the edge of failure with an uncertain future. Thus we have Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage. And in this new book, Shillinglaw makes a powerful case for the idea that Steinbeck's first wife had everything to do with his ability to persevere, to create a body of work that drew notice to his burgeoning talent, and to carry on despite all the pressures (fiscal, psychological, and otherwise) that plague serious writers attempting to emerge. . . . This wonderful new biography offers plenty of echoes of Steinbeck, but its real value is in restoring to memory the voice, style, and persona of Carol Henning Steinbeck."
--M. J. Moore in Neworld Review, vol. 7 no. 48
--San Jose Mercury News "As biographer Susan Shillinglaw reminds us in her insightful, important, and necessary new work, there was a time when the man who wrote The Grapes of Wrath was a mere struggling writer; an acknowledged talent, yes, but always on the edge of failure with an uncertain future. Thus we have Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage. And in this new book, Shillinglaw makes a powerful case for the idea that Steinbeck's first wife had everything to do with his ability to persevere, to create a body of work that drew notice to his burgeoning talent, and to carry on despite all the pressures (fiscal, psychological, and otherwise) that plague serious writers attempting to emerge. . . . This wonderful new biography offers plenty of echoes of Steinbeck, but its real value is in restoring to memory the voice, style, and persona of Carol Henning Steinbeck."
--M. J. Moore in Neworld Review, vol. 7 no. 48
". . .Shillinglaw writes with eloquence and grace. . ."--Publishers Weekly-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Shillinglaw presents the first comprehensive portrait of this dynamic couple. Scholars will benefit from the extensive notes and bibliography; others will particularly appreciate the selection of photographs, some of them especially candid and revealing. Highly recommended."--Choice Magazine-- "Choice Magazine"