“The Grapes of Wrath”: A Fifty Year Bibliographic Survey by Robert B. Harmon, and: The Grapes of Wrath, A Special Issue

Abstract

Reviews 151 day, still read well and retain an uncommon eerieness. While Western Ghosts is probably not an essential purchase, it did have its moments and pleasures for this reader. Part of the American Ghosts Series, Western Ghosts has four sister anthologies—Ghosts of the Heartland, Dixie Ghosts, Eastern Ghosts, and New England Ghosts. JAMES B. HEMESATH Adams State College “The Grapes of Wrath”: A Fifty Year Bibliographic Survey. Compiled by Robert B. Harmon, with John F. Early. Introduction by Susan Shillinglaw. (San Jose, California: Steinbeck Research Center, San Jose State University, 1990. 325 pages, $15.00.) “The Grapes of Wrath, A Special Issue.” San Jose Studies, 16 (Winter 1990), $ 10.00. Golden anniversaries are rare these days, and when they occur they deserve a special celebration. These two works are part of such a celebration, that of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Robert Harmon’s bibliography is the first to focus exclusively on this novel. Entries are subdivided into sections dealing with critical analyses of the text, stage adaptations, the film production, and audio-visual materials, among others. Entries are briefly annotated, and each is indexed by name, subject, and title. Photographs by Dorothea Lange and illustrations, including the original movie poster, are scattered throughout the text. The special issue of San ]ose Studies grew from a conference held at San Jose State University in 1989. The strong point of this issue is its interdisci­ plinary approach. Articles range from a psychoanalytic reading of the text to a review of Steinbeck’s visits to, and effects on, federal migrant camps, from the metaphysics of Steinbeck’s style to a Japanese view of the novel. Leslie Fiedler and Warren French provide retrospectives that place the novel in time and social context and that trace its effect on the life of one academician. The collection should be of value not only to Steinbeck scholars but also to anyone interested in America’sDepression era. Susan Shillinglaw, in her introduction to Harmon’sbook, calls it a “labor of love.” That’s an apt description, and one that applies equally to the San Jose Studies special issue. KATE BOYES Utah State University ...