America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction
Written by John Steinbeck
Narrated by Henry Strozier
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck (Salinas, 1902 - Nueva York, 1968). Narrador y dramaturgo estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Stanford, pero desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar duramente como albañil, jornalero rural, agrimensor o empleado de tienda. En la década de 1930 describió la pobreza que acompañó a la Depresión económica y tuvo su primer reconocimiento crítico con la novela Tortilla Flat, en 1935. Sus novelas se sitúan dentro de la corriente naturalista o del realismo social americano. Su estilo, heredero del naturalismo y próximo al periodismo, se sustenta sin embargo en una gran carga de emotividad en los argumentos y en el simbolismo presente en las situaciones y personajes que crea, como ocurre en sus obras mayores: De ratones y hombres (1937), Las uvas de la ira (1939) y Al este del Edén (1952). Obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1962.
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Reviews for America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction
44 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have read this book before and thrilled to find it here. To be clear, this is not Steinbeck's first America and Americans, written in the early 1960s. This is that wonderful notebook he carried under his arm, in which he wrote observations about the world, culture, injustice, beauty, cruelty and people that became The Pearl, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, To a God Unknown, Cannery Row, Sweet Charity, and the Sea of Cortez...
This is the non-fiction title released by Thomas Steinbeck and obviously best understood by Susan Shillinglaw, professor of literature and Steinbeck expert at San Jose State University--our greatest gift to all things Steinbeck.
This book is a real treat for one who lives, beathes and draws strength from the land described in many of Steinbeck's novels. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Much better book than expected. Steinbeck was way ahead of his time, and these essays could have been written now, in this frightful present day. I found these essays to ring especially true regarding the state of our country, the good old USA. Though a difficult, and rather too-intense an individual to remain forever close friends with, John Steinbeck was a good and honest man. What he saw and felt too often tortured him, and nothing could salve his open wounds.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction is two different books. One is Steinbeck's final book, a collection of essays published in 1966 entitled America and Americans. In this slender volume, Steinbeck's thoughts on the state of America were originally paired with photographs by acclaimed photographers such as Ansel Adams, Gordon Parks, and Alfred Eisenstaedt (these photos do not accompany later editions).The other book here is the Selected Nonfiction. Many people are unaware that throughout Steinbeck's career, the author was a prolific writer of short pieces of nonfiction. He published several hundred essays on a wide variety of topics. America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction includes fifty four of these essays.Together, all these various pieces feel disjointed. Part of the problem was Steinbeck himself. Despite persistent views that Steinbeck was this or was that, he was an individual who chose not to become any one thing. He did not subscribe to a particular ideology and all that came with it. So, while Steinbeck may have been extremely far left leaning in some areas, he was very conservative in others. While he may have been very cultured, he was also very domestic. While he could be secular, he was also religious. Steinbeck was no one particular thing. As such, he succeeded in being offensive to a very large percentage of the populace. The same man who complains about the evil capitalism of the American corporation praises the American military in Korea and Vietnam for being above reproach. From one essay to the next, the result can be dizzying.Those who've read Steinbeck extensively as I have will recognize many of the pieces. Selections from some of Steinbeck's published books such as The Harvest Gypsies, A Russian Journal, Once There Was a War, and The Log from the Sea of Cortez are present. Also here are a relatively small selection of those pieces Steinbeck published in various magazines from the 1930s through the 1960s.There's nothing spectacular here, though there are moments here and there when Steinbeck shines. Particularly, I think of his chapter in America and Americans called “Created Equal” where he addressed the plight of the descendants of African slavery in a rather open-minded and forward-thinking way for a white man of his era. There's also nothing too surprising here, though, as I implied earlier, some of Steinbeck's views are jarring.America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction is a Steinbeck book for the Steinbeck die hard. Casual readers of Steinbeck will likely grow bored of the book before reaching the end. Myself, I found some selections fascinating, some tedious, but most were little more than clever observations by an astute mind.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is, in my opinion, Steinbeck's greatest and most thought-provoking book. Steinbeck seems to have really understood America and Americans, even though he refused to compromise his ideals in order to be liked by more Americans. An amazingly wonderful book and highly recommended to anyone who wants to better understand America or Americans (or who wants to better understand Steinbeck).
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Many of the America and Americans essays, though written over 40 years ago, speak to the issues we face today, specifically his thoughts on the environment, big-money corporations and race relations. Of particular interest is Steinbeck's essay on Adlai Stevenson and Governor Stevenson's eloquence during the Presidential race of 1952 against Dwight D. Eisenhower. He writes, "I know Mr. Stevenson only from pictures of him, from reading his history and from his speeches. I was for Eisenhower, knew about him and liked him." Steinbeck goes on to explain why he changed who he voted for, noting it wasn't looks or even Stevenson's accomplishments "because Eisenhower's contribution is second to none in the world and certainly overshadows the record of [Stevenson], no matter how good it may have been. I have switched entirely because of the speeches." I cannot help but compare this to my own decision to support Barack Obama instead of Hilary Clinton. Steinbeck writes, "He makes their efforts sound so ill-conceived, clumsily thought-out and dull. The weighty sarcasms, moral indignations, the flaggy patriotisms and dingy platitudes which have been perfectly good in other elections are covered with gray dust in this year." Read this wonderful collection of essays yourself and see how many are still relevant now.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The last published book by Steinbeck. It is a collection of essays concerning a variety of topics but mostly on what he thought about the current state of America and Americans.