Publisher's Synopsis
The evolution of Steinbeck's art occurred over a decade, from the stories written as a student at Stanford University through 1934, when he drafted the stories of "The Long Valley" collection.;This decade represented a critical period in Steinbeck's life. He keenly desired to be a writer but was in the process of discovering the artistic means to achieve that goal. The stories crafted during this period provide access to the developing mind of the artist. They reveal Steinbeck's experimentation with, and eventual mastery of, narrative points of view, character, plot, setting, and patterns of imagery. It is a dramatic revelation, and one that also discloses a great deal about the writer's novelistic triumphs of later years.;This study makes extensive use of Steinbeck's notebooks and ledgers in examining the entire body of the writer's short stories in their chronological development. Using both textual and literary criticism, Timmerman discerns a great deal about Steinbeck's growth as a literary artist, his ideas about art, and his literary achievement.
