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Cannery Row
by Steinbeck, John
- Used
- Fine
- first
- Condition
- Fine
- Seller
-
New York, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: The Viking Press, 1945 First edition, advance issue in the publisher's blue wrappers. An excellent copy with only some minor fading to spine, else fine. Cannery Row is a Depression-era novel set in Monterey, California. The plot takes place on a grungy street with "the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots, junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses." The actual street in Monterey has since been renamed "Cannery Row" in honor of this iconic novel. The plot features an unlikely cast of characters, including a marine biologist, a grocer, a restaurateur, and a group of local vagabonds. Cannery Row is exemplar of Steinbeck's talent for making even the most unsavory characters relatable and endearing; Mack and his group of homeless squatters are described as "gentlemen and philosophers united by a common dislike of a steady job and a mutual feeling for the pleasures of living according to their lights." Much of the inspiration for this novel and its 1954 sequel Sweet Thursday were drawn from the author's own life; Steinbeck was born in Monterey County, grew up knowing fishermen and other laborers, and was close friends with a marine biologist, Ed Ricketts, who worked on the real Cannery Row.. First Edition. Fine.
Synopsis
Cannery Row is the waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California, USA. It is the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories. The street name, formerly a nickname for Ocean View Avenue, became official in January 1958 to honor John Steinbeck and his famous novel Cannery Row.
Reviews
On Dec 29 2015, a reader said:
After 25 years since the last time I read this book, its like being back on Cannery row all over again- the smells, the sounds, they joys and sorrow of the characters.
In this work, Steinbeck put forth some of his finest writing. On the surface, the language and the story seem simple but only deceptively so. There are many subtleties and nuances that lend so much flavor and a sense of presence to this fine work.
This is definitely one of my most favorite books. Highly recommended!
On Sep 5 2011, West of Eden Books said:
Although John Steinbeck wrote many great works of American literature Cannery Row is my favourite by far. This short tale of the inhabitants of a stretch of industrial property on the coast of California is a rich little comic gem that Steinbeck lifts briefly into the Summer sun so that we might glimpse a society different from, but not entirely unlike, our own.Though it's not socially revolutionary like The Grapes of Wrath, nor the genesis of a Hollywood blockbuster like East of Eden, it is told with such precision and with such affection and respect for its ragtag cast of characters that the reader feels privileged to have met them.Mack and the boys are not bums and drunkards but "gentlemen and philosophers united by a common dislike of a steady job and a mutual feeling for the pleasures of living according to their lights" and Doc, the main character, is "half-Christ and and half-satyr" as he collects his marine and terrestrial fauna for sale to scientific laboratories while unofficially ministering to the sick puppies, lost children and unhappy souls on the Row.You must be somewhat slipshod in your own morals to like this book, it's not for the ramrod stiff among us. As Lewis Gannet wrote: "It does not rank cleanliness next to godliness, and its everyday vocabulary takes four-letter words in its Elizabethan stride". And there are whores, but you must be able to see them as sisters and daughters with dreams of their own, and better places to be in time.And so I invite you, after the busy canneries shut their doors in the late afternoon. Come out with the boys to sit on the rusty pipes in the vacant lot, watch as the girl's emerge from Dora's "for a bit of sun if there is any", cross the street to Lee Chong's for a couple of quarts of beer and take them over to Western Biological to see if Doc is in.
On Oct 26 2009, Muzzle said:
I loved the book, it brings the reader back to a simpler time when the world wasn't participating in the throes of a 40 yard dash.
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Details
- Bookseller
- B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- JS042
- Title
- Cannery Row
- Author
- Steinbeck, John
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- New York: The Viking Press
- Date Published
- 1945
- Bookseller catalogs
- Modern Firsts; American Literature; Fiction;
Terms of Sale
B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
~ All items are guaranteed as described. We recommend requesting pictures prior to purchasing. ~ Any items may be returned within seven days of receipt and in the same condition as originally sent. ~ We ship with FedEx, UPS and USPS. Please let us know if you prefer another shipping. ~ New York State are required to add 8.875% sales tax.
About the Seller
B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
Biblio member since 2006
New York, New York
About B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
Selling First Editions and Rare Books from all centuries. Specializing in 19th and 20th century literature, modern first editions, signed and inscribed books, early children's literature, and poetry.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
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