“The Grapes of Wrath”
 Born in Salinas, California
 Father, Ernest, tried several jobs to care for his family
 Owned a feed and grain store
 Managed a flour plant
 Treasurer of Monterrey County
 Mother, Olive Hamilton, was a school teacher
 Three sisters
 Decided at 14 to become a writer
 At 19, enrolled at Stanford University
 Was enrolled on/off for six years, before finally
dropping out in 1925
 Moved to New York City
 Construction worker
 Newspaper reporter
 Moved back to California
 Caretaker in Lake Tahoe
 Published first novel, “Cup of Gold” (1929)
 Met and married first wife, Carol
 “Tortilla Flat” (1935)
 “In Dubious Battle” (1936)
 “Of Mice and Men” (1937)
 “The Long Valley” (1938)
 “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939)
 “Cannery Row” (1945)
 “East of Eden” (1952)
 Was a war correspondent for The New York Herald
Tribune during WWII
 Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 for “The
Grapes of Wrath”
 Died of heart disease on December 20, 1968
 Setting
 The Great Depression
 The Dust Bowl
 Between Oklahoma and California
 Themes
 The effects of the Great Depression
 Man’s Inhumanity toward Man
 The Power of Family