According to an embittered Steinbeck, literary criticism is 'a kind of ill-tempered party game in which nobody gets kissed'. Twenty-five years after his death he receives a big wet one in the shape of Jay Parini's biography, which comes with much fanfare designed to rehabilitate him as one of America's great writers. A handsome 'Steinbeck award' has been set up by the writer's widow; a South Bank Show has been tied in; 'a year-long marketing campaign by Mandarin promoting Steinbeck's backlist' has been launched.

LRB 12 May 1994 | PDF Download