Bibliographies are vital to the discipline of English studies. Beginning scholars need them for the roadmaps they provide to new fields of study, and more experienced researchers depend on them to find material, to insure they have not missed important work on a topic, or to keep current with what has been happening in their field. Bibliographic work is challenging—it requires strong organizational skills; it demands painstaking attention to detail; and it is largely a thankless task. As a result, many bibliographies, particularly subject bibliographies on major authors, are compiled by scholars who are early in their careers. When an author bibliography is developed by someone with decades of experience studying a particular subject or author, it is doubly valuable. The experienced scholar knows the history of the subject, knows its major trends, is familiar with the scholarly conversations and controversies surrounding the author, and is in a position to identify the most important articles and books, to evaluate what is essential, and to determine what is of secondary importance and which might be omitted altogether. Such is the case with Barbara A. Heavilin’s contribution on John Steinbeck to the Oxford Bibliographies, a part of the American Literature collection of subject bibliographies published by Oxford University Press.This work provides a concise introduction that explores Steinbeck’s life and works within the context of the global conflicts through which he lived and by which his life was framed: World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War. The bibliography is then divided into several categories (General Overviews, Reference Works, Scholarly Journals, Archival Sources, Biographies, Personal Reminiscences, Primary Texts, Criticism, Aesthetics, The Environment and Ecology, Politics, and Steinbeck and Other Writers). Each section begins with a succinct overview of the kinds of works referenced, providing a preview of the section and a useful one-sentence overview of each work covered in it. For instance, in the General Overviews section, Heavilin notes that Danica Čerče’s Reading John Steinbeck in Eastern Europe “addresses the gap between readers and scholars in evaluating Steinbeck’s work” and that Joseph Fontenrose’s John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation is “is noteworthy for its concise, insightful summation of the writer’s literary merit.” Each of the bibliography’s section introductions is followed by a series of annotated bibliographic entries, with complete publication history, and a concise three- to four-sentence discussion of each work’s major conclusions and how they relate to the discipline of Steinbeck studies.The scope and breadth of Heavilin’s bibliography is impressive. It ranges from the earliest scholarly appraisals of Steinbeck’s work beginning in the 1930s (Harry T. Moore’s The Novels of John Steinbeck: A First Study) to contemporary works published this decade (such as William Souder’s 2020 Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck). The three major periods of Steinbeck scholarship are represented, from early scholarship which focused primarily on The Grapes of Wrath and treated Steinbeck primarily as a political author, through the period of reevaluation which came after the author’s death when scholars began exploring the full Steinbeck canon and its complexities, to more contemporary approaches which reflect the growth of literary theory, cultural studies, and environmental criticism. The breadth of entries reflects the global nature of scholarship on the author, ranging from Asia to the Americas to Europe.Three sections are particularly noteworthy: Primary Texts, Criticism, and Politics. The Primary Texts section divides Steinbeck’s career into three periods: Early Novels: 1929–1939; The Middle Novels, 1941–1948; and The Final Novels, 1950–1976 (which includes works published posthumously after Steinbeck’s death in 1968). After noting the Library of America editions of Steinbeck’s most important works, each novel is dealt with in chronological order of publication, from Cup of Gold to The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. The entry on each novel includes original publication dates and directs the reader’s attention to a subsequent republication of that novel that includes an introduction written by a Steinbeck scholar of note. Each entry also includes an overview of the novel’s major events and a brief discussion of how that novel fits into the overall Steinbeck canon.The Criticism section is organized by genre. The novels are organized into the same periods used in the Primary Texts section (Early, Middle, and Final), citing critical companions, book length studies, entries from critical collections, and important journal articles (usually republished in critical collections and cross-referenced as such). Also included are separate sections on the short fiction, nonfiction, and films and film scripts. This organizational strategy introduces beginning scholars to the broad range of genres in which Steinbeck wrote. Also of note is the Politics section, significant because much of the critical work on Steinbeck has focused on him as a political author writing in the protest tradition. The Politics section highlights significant book-length studies, important articles, and examinations of how Steinbeck’s political vision is viewed around the world (included in a separate subsection titled “Steinbeck on the World Scene”).Good bibliographies make choices, selecting works that are most important and most representative of critical and scholarly discussions. The most significant works written by important Steinbeck scholars are represented, including Tetsumaro Hayashi, Mimi Reisel Gladstein, John Ditsky, Warren French, Barbara A. Heavilin, Luchen Li, Robert DeMott, Susan Shillinlaw, Richard Astro, Danica Čerče, and others. The important work of many other, less well-known scholars who have contributed to the field are introduced as well.To be effective, an author bibliography must be selective; it cannot include everything that has been published about a subject, nor would it be useful if it did. Not including a work or an author always leaves the bibliographer open to criticism. I was, for example, initially surprised that the only mention of E. W. Tedlock and C. V. Wicker’s Steinbeck and His Critics, long a standard of Steinbeck studies, came in the context of a reference made to it in a journal article. It must be noted, however, that bibliographers develop carefully thought-out criteria about what to include and what to omit and what tough choices have to be made, with the result that sometimes good work is omitted because it does not fit the bibliographer’s criteria, is less up to date, or is less representative than other work that is included.Another choice a bibliographer working in American studies must make is to decide whether or not to include scholarship from authors whose work is in languages other than English. Important works on Steinbeck have been published in a variety of other languages, including Chinese, Spanish, German, Polish, and French. Japan has a particularly robust tradition of Steinbeck scholarship in both English and Japanese, and its work receives some mention in this bibliography. Heavilin has focused on scholars whose work has appeared in English and whose work is readily accessible through English language databases and search engines, an understandable choice. A useful addition to this work might have been to include reference to Kyoshi Nakayama’s “Steinbeck Criticism in Japan: An Introduction to Books Published in English,” which would have given beginning scholars entrée into the rich tradition of Japanese scholarship on Steinbeck. But as noted elsewhere, bibliographers have to make choices, and Heavilin cannot be faulted to limiting the scope of her work.The Oxford Bibliographies’ new offering on the work of John Steinbeck does everything a good author bibliography should. It provides an introduction to the field, ideal for beginning scholars looking for entry points into Steinbeck studies as well as recommendations about who the most important scholars in the field are. It provides a comprehensive guide to readings and interpretations of all of Steinbeck’s novels and many of his important short stories, an impressive feat considering how prolific the author was. It provides guides for further study, including information about important archival resources, how to find virtually anything Steinbeck ever wrote, and a roadmap to the most important reference works, biographies, and critical studies.On a closing note, as someone who has studied Steinbeck with great joy for more than three decades, I found Barbara A. Heavilin’s bibliography fun. Reading through it reminded me of things I had forgotten, introduced me to work I missed or did not know about, allowed me to spend time with old friends (in the sense that books that have been important to us are friends), and taught me things I did not know. Bibliographic work is vital to the field, it is difficult to do well, and it is a service to the scholarly community. Heavilin’s bibliography on John Steinbeck is commendable—well worth the novice’s or the scholar’s time.Oxford Bibliographies operates off of an institutional subscription model. If your institution has access to the American Literature module, then all articles within that subject area will be available. Pricing depends on the size and type of institution. A representative at OxfordBibliographies@oup.com is available to discuss institutional cost.