Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929. It was followed by The Pastures of Heaven and, in 1933, To a God Unknown. However, his first three novels were unsuccessful both critically and commercially. …show more content…
Ricketts. The two men collaborated on Sea of Cortez (1941), a study of the fauna of the Gulf of California. During World War II, Steinbeck wrote some effective pieces of government propaganda, among them The Moon Is Down (1942), a novel about Norwegians under the Nazis. He also served as a war correspondent. With the end of World War II and the move from the Great Depression to economic prosperity in America, Steinbeck's work softened somewhat. While they still contain the elements of social criticism that mark his earlier work, the three novels Steinbeck published immediately following the war, Cannery Row (1945), The Pearl, and The Bus (both 1947) are more sentimental and relaxed. Steinbeck also contributed to several screenplays. He wrote the original stories for a number of films, including Lifeboat (1944), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and A Medal for Benny. He also wrote the screenplay for Elia Kazan's Viva Zapata!, a biographical film about Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican peasant who was the leader of the revolution in the state of …show more content…
The documents reveal that Steinbeck was not a clear choice, but rather, the Academy members were trying to "make the best of a bad situation." A New York Times article claims, "the decision came amid their general dissatisfaction with the candidates for the prize that year, according to documents recently released by the academy." Besides Steinbeck, the other writers that the Swedish Academy considered in 1962 were Robert Graves, Lawrence Durrell, Karen Blixen, and Jean Anouilh. While the documents reveal that the committee was not excited about Steinbeck as a choice, they did not give this impression in their public statements about Steinbeck. After Steinbeck's win was announced, the Academy released a statement saying that he was among "the masters of modern American literature" because of "his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social