A01=Susan Shillinglaw
America
American
author
Author_Susan Shillinglaw
biography
books
Category=DNBL
Category=DS
Category=DSBH
Category=DSK
Category=WN
class
cultural
culture
ecological
environments
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
essay
figure
forthcoming
history
industrialization
inspiration
laborers
landscapes
Literary
migrant
natural
stories
working
writer
Product details
- ISBN 9781643260044
- Dimensions: 178 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 24 Sep 2026
- Publisher: Workman Publishing
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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From one of the foremost scholars on the subject, comes our most in-depth look at John Steinbeck as a writer deeply connected to the natural world. Among the many reasons that John Steinbeck has ascended to the highest tier of the American Literary Canon is his championing of the working man. What we don’t often consider, however, is that his vision as a writer was fundamentally ecological, looking at man and nature holistically. To understand people, you had to know something about the trees and flowers they planted, the soil they tilled, the geography that shaped their consciousness—the animating spirit of place. Steinbeck's Landscapes highlights the environments that the Noble Prize winning author cherished and explored throughout his life and career, and examines the iconic stories those rivers, valleys, plants, animals, and weather patterns inspired. The result is a new and fuller understanding of Steinbeck’s work, and how nature serves to reflect, cast a harsh light upon, or magnify the action. As this fully illustrated treasure shows, for Steinbeck, the world around us fundamentally shapes human experience and the human spirit. All life is connected.
Susan Shillinglaw, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of English at San Jose State University, where she taught American and Western literature for 37 years. For 18 years she was Director of the University's Center for Steinbeck Studies, where she edited a newsletter and organized several international conferences. In 2013 she was honored as SJSU President's Scholar. From 2015-18 she was Director of Salinas's National Steinbeck Center.
