Book review: In America — Travels with John Steinbeck

In 1960, novelist John Steinbeck took to the byways of America to rediscover his native land. Geert Mak’s retracing of his tyre-tracks gives a fresh perspective to his travels.  compares the two odysseys.

BY SEPTEMBER of 1960, John Steinbeck was 58-years-old and estimated to be the world’s third-most bestselling writer (“based on the number of books sold and titles translated”).

The author of some 15 novels, including such classics as Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row, East of Eden, and his Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, his starkly realistic work vividly evoked Depression-era existence and gave a humane voice to some of society’s most downtrodden and down-at-heel.