East of Eden

'I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one . . . Humans are caught-in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too-in a net of good and evil . . . There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well-or ill?'

 

'A testament to the power of Steinbeck's storytelling: to his ferocious will to make sense of his life and his country.' Jonathan Franzen

 

'A novelist who is also a true poet.' Sunday Times

 

'Steinbeck's writings form a photograph album of America.' Guardian