Or Travels With Charly, if you’re a Cliff Robertson fan.
As talented as he is, playing a poodle might be a bit of a stretch.
I just finished Grapes of Wrath for the first time - for some reason, I never got around to reading much Steinbeck.
And holy shit… the ending… I was NOT expecting that. But it was just… perfect.
The whole book is like a spiral, where everything keeps going from bad to worse and when you can’t figure anything could get much worse it gets worse. And then they bring in a few more characters that are even MORE worse off. And then… the ending, which is just one more step down the ladder. And at the same time, so logical. What else would you do in that situation?
I vote for Of Mice and Men. My favorite Steinbeck. I actually pretty well hated The Pearl, although that was a long time ago and I can’t quite remember why.
What? No love for The Short Reign of Pippin the Fourth? 
Actually, that title and The Pearl is all I’ve ever read of Steinbeck. I had to read The Pearl in high school, and I hated it so much I’ve never read any more of his work.
To be fair I dislike most of what I was assigned to read in high school, with a few exceptions. I hated Shakespeare, but now love him, and I loved To Kill a Mockingbird.
My dad has a First edition of that book - signed by Ed Ricketts, who co-wrote the book and was immortalized as Doc in Cannery Row. His house is a few blocks from my parents’ house.
And Slithy I am not sure I see a unique connection between Campbell and Steinbeck - can you elaborate? And I would add Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio) to your list of influences on the Big 4/5 - Hemingway in particular…
I liked East of Eden over Grapes of Wrath for his epic novels.
Shorts, I liked Cannery Row over Tortilla Flats.
Oops, I hadn’t seen your question. Well, years later your little green light is lit, so here goes.
As an aspiring young writer, Campbell worked his way into the good graces of Steinbeck. Steinbeck was wrapped up in his success and was typically ignoring his wife, who, um, sought solace in the arms of the younger man. When he found out about it, to his credit Steinbeck was cool about it, and openly accepted the blame so they wouldn’t continue to feel guilty.
Anthony Burgess, the son of penny-pinching shopkeepers, asked Steinbeck after the Nobel Prize ceremony what he was going to do with the prize money. Steinbeck told him to fuck off. Burgess admitted it was a rude question to ask on a tiring day. It seems Steinbeck was the sort of person who could be forgiven much, not because of his talent, but just because he was a good man.
Hmm, didn’t know that about Campbell and Steinbeck; have to see what my dad knows about that.