ENG310: Grapes of Wrath

A collection of newspaper articles about Dust Bowl migrants in California's Central Valley by the author of The Grapes of Wrath, accompanied by photos.   Three years before his triumphant novel The Grapes of Wrath--a fictional portrayal of a Depression-era family fleeing Oklahoma during a disastrous period of drought and dust storms--John Steinbeck wrote seven articles for the San Francisco News about these history-making events and the hundreds of thousands who made their way west to work as farm laborers.

This book marks the 50the anniversary of the publication of The Grapes of Wrath. During the creation of the novel, Steinbeck faithfully kept a journal revealing a tale of dramatic proportions--of dogged determination, inspiration and of paranoia, self-doubt, and obstacles.

Few books have caused as big a stir as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, when it was published in April 1939. By May, it was the nation's number one bestseller, but in Kern County, California -- the Joads' newfound home -- the book was burned publicly and banned from library shelves. Obscene in the Extreme tells the remarkable story behind this fit of censorship.