“Why is it that the work of this earnest but artless writer continues to enjoy such astonishing popularity? It’s not hard to understand why his books are widely assigned in middle and high school English classes; they are easy to read, they are honest in their portrayal of working-class Americans, they passionately support basic American values and principles even when they criticize particulars of American life. Whatever their literary shortcomings, they have an integrity to which young readers respond. But why do adults continue to read Steinbeck in such numbers?”