Product Description

Steinbeck's first major critical and commercial success, TORTILLA FLAT is also his funniest novel. Danny is a paisano, descended from the original Spanish settlers who arrived in Monterey, California, centuries before. He values friendship abovemoney and possessions, so that when he suddently inherits two houses, Danny is quick to offer shelter to his fellow gentlemen of the road. Their love of freedom and scorn for material things draw them into daring and often hilarious adventures. Until Danny, tiring of his new reponsibilities, suddenly disappears...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21602 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

About the Author
Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck is remembered as one of the greatest and best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. His complete works will be available in Penguin Modern Classics.

Customer Reviews

The best I've ever read
Some readers will see the pure story of Tortilla Flat, some will gain hints of the book's wider moral undertones, others again will see its romantic side.

But for me this book has all that and more. I have read it regularly, about every two or three years during my adult life, and each time it reveals something new about *me* and the way I live my life in the present.

For true fans of Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath carries more indignant social commentary, Pippin IV more humour, Burning Bright more romanticism and Of Mice and Men more depth of character, However, if you want to see all these attributes distilled into one short volume, here it is.

To me this little book is John Steinbeck's masterpiece. I cherish every word of it and can honestly say that in my humble opinion it is the finest book in the English language.

A Merry Tale!
“Tortilla Flat” is an entertaining tale of Danny and his paisano friends as they live the lives of a merry band of unemployed alcoholics.

Danny is the core which draws the gradually expanding group to himself and holds it together. Pilon, Jesus Marie, Big Joe Portagee, Pablo and the Pirate all introduce their own personalities into this story. For a group which never works, drinks wine whenever it is available and survives by stealing, they are an amazingly likable lot. Thieves though the are, they each have a good hearted and generous core. This book is an easy read, entertaining and funny. Read and Enjoy!

A wonderful classic by a wonderful author of his time.
I had read most of the John Steinbeck novels when I was in school but I seemed to have missed this one. I loved it, the pull between poor Danny and his friends was at times humorous but sad. Mr. Steinbeck used wonderful words to discribe all the characters in the novel it really made it easy to picture them. Longman publishing have done a great job with this educational version with a brief summary at the beggining and questions following each chapter, I could see how this could be very useful to a student. I would highly recomend this book.