In 1937, John Steinbeck published a classic and favorite for generations. Learn the story behind “Of Mice and Men” with Archivist Lisa.

In this third and finally installment of the National Steinbeck Center’s look at Steinbeck’s first novel, Cup of Gold (1929), Archivist Lisa discusses the critical reception of this work and why it isn’t more widely read.

In this second installment of the National Steinbeck Center’s look at Steinbeck’s first published novel, Archivist Lisa discusses plot, characters, and themes.

Archivist Lisa explores Steinbeck’s first published novel which came out when he was 27 years old and is his only historical fiction work.

In this final video exploring John Steinbeck’s 1936 novel of a strike, Archivist Lisa discusses the critical reception of this work and its place in the Steinbeck cannon.

In this second installment of “Diary of a Book,” looking at Steinbeck’s 1936 strike novel, Archivist Lisa talks about characters, plot, and themes of the book, as well as the origin of the title.

This 1936 strike novel of Steinbeck’s draws on historic California strikes of the early 1930s for its inspiration and has its roots in journalism. Archivist Lisa talks about how Steinbeck went about gathering the information he needed for this work.

In this final video about “The Pastures of Heaven,” Archivist Lisa discusses its critical reception and thematic relationship to later Steinbeck works.

This video discusses some of the thematic threads that tie together the short stories of “The Pastures of Heaven.”

Steinbeck’s second published work happened at a crossroads in his writing career. Archivist Lisa talks about the other manuscripts that Steinbeck worked on and the clues they give to his approach to his work at the time.