Product Description

In the din and stink that is Cannery Row a colourful blend of misfits - gamblers, whores, drunks, bums and artists - survive side by side in a jumble of adventure and mischief. Lee Chong, the astute owner of the well-stocked grocery store, is also the proprietor of the Palace Flophouse that Mack and his troupe of good-natured 'boys' call home. Dora runs the brothel with clockwork efficiency and a generous heart, and Doc is the fount of all wisdom. Packed with invention and joie de vivre CANNERY ROW is Steinbeck's high-spirited tribute to his native California.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7359 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 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 published in Penguin Modern Classics.

Customer Reviews

An American Poem
Although 'Cannery Row' is short compared to Steinbeck's better known novels, it is packed full of the powerful and delicate, beautiful and insightful writing which Steinbeck is the master of. There is no single story or plot binding the novella together, but the structure of the narrative is found in the many stories which Cannery Row has to tell us. Through clever and precise writing Steinbeck reveals to us characters both unique and universal, colourful and natural. There is happiness and sadness, a little tragedy, and a lot of hope - a picture is painted not just of American people before WW2, but of people who while shaped by their nationality, are not defined by it. Through all of 'Cannery Row' there is a sense that some sort of fundamental humanity will see to everything being okay in the end - Steinbeck comes across as being a great believer in the human spirit, pure and simple, stripped of all its pretentions and possessions, anxieties and angers, nationalities and politics. Steinbeck looks at the world and sees things we don't always see, and he writes honestly about evil when he sees it and unsentimentally about good when he sees that. 'Cannery Row' is the sort of book which makes you look at things a little differently, and leaves you with a peaceful smile on your face when you put it down at the end.

Five stars aren't nearly enough for this masterpiece.
John Steinbeck was (and still is, although he's dead) one of the most respected and revered writers to come out of America and, if you read this book, you'll see why. Set in a tiny comunity attached to the tuna canneries near Monterey in California during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the reader is introduced to a magical world where friendship and camaraderie fill empty bellies. Mack and the boys, Lee Chong and Doc are the central characters, around which Steinbeck has built a literary cathedral of 'belly-laughter' humour, pathos and subtle wit. This was the first of Steinbeck's books which I read and I found it to be the perfect introduction to his others. I challenge anyone with a soul to read this work of pure brilliance and not want to be there, be part of the story. If you can read this book without laughing out loud, go and see your doctor, because there's something wrong with you. After reading Cannery Row, read Sweet Thursday and Tortilla Flat, then you're ready for The Grapes of Wrath.

Just mesmerising.
Steinbeck is one of literatures greats. He breathes such life into his characters, especially here, that every page is a joy to behold. Cannery Row is a book you hate to finish as it is so beautifully written. Never before have a bunch of small town wastrels seemed so beguiling. You know you are in the midst of writing genius as you read it and you will be left with an enveloping feeling of sadness and warmth. This little book will stay with you forever and prompt you to indulge in some of Steinbeck's more challenging masterpieces as well as his equally enthralling novellas. Steinbeck, I salute you and cannot thank you enough for sharing your wonderful, almost poetic writings with the world.
Buy this, people. Read and re-read as I'd be surprised if you are disappointed.