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A review by silverthane
America and Americans: And Selected Nonfiction by John Steinbeck
4.0
In America and Americans we see a different side to John Steinbeck. We don't see the earthy novelist writing about Salinas or some other nameless province in California. We see John Steinbeck the journalist writing about an America he is intimately acquainted with. An America he at once loves and seethes with frustration at. John was equally capable of praise and condemnation.
The book is a collection of articles written over decades all with a common theme: America. The articles discuss both the country and the people giving an excellent all round view of the country, both its past and where it's going but it isn't a history book in the strictest sense but more the sort of book that gives you an overall impression of a place. Rather than focus on what Americans DO it tells us what they ARE. It is a book that contains history, politics, philosophy and pure journalism in the form of letters and opinion pieces ranging from the shameful treatment of the migrant workers living in California (nicknamed Okies) to the Vietnam War. At times the articles were a little 'preachy' particularly towards the end of Steinbeck's life and I didn't always agree with the conclusions he came to but that isn't necessary to simply enjoy the fact that he was a tremendously talented, intelligent man with a gift for writing.
This was a thoroughly interesting, informative and enjoyable read particularly if you are a fan of John Steinbeck, history or America in general.
The book is a collection of articles written over decades all with a common theme: America. The articles discuss both the country and the people giving an excellent all round view of the country, both its past and where it's going but it isn't a history book in the strictest sense but more the sort of book that gives you an overall impression of a place. Rather than focus on what Americans DO it tells us what they ARE. It is a book that contains history, politics, philosophy and pure journalism in the form of letters and opinion pieces ranging from the shameful treatment of the migrant workers living in California (nicknamed Okies) to the Vietnam War. At times the articles were a little 'preachy' particularly towards the end of Steinbeck's life and I didn't always agree with the conclusions he came to but that isn't necessary to simply enjoy the fact that he was a tremendously talented, intelligent man with a gift for writing.
This was a thoroughly interesting, informative and enjoyable read particularly if you are a fan of John Steinbeck, history or America in general.