Audiobooks by John Steinbeck

A Rare Recording of John Steinbeck's 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature Speech

John Ernst Steinbeck (February 27, 1902 - December 20, 1968), born in Salinas, CA, was an American writer who won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception." His writings include the novels Of Mice and Men (1937), the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939), and East of Eden (1952). The following is Steinbeck's speech at the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, December 10, 1962.

John Steinbeck (Author), John Steinbeck (Narrator)

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Journal of a Novel: Penguin Modern Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. This collection of letters forms a fascinating day-by-day account of Steinbeck's writing of EAST OF EDEN, his longest and most ambitious novel. The letters, ranging over many subjects - textual discussion, trial flights of workmanship, family matters - provide an illuminating perspective on Steinbeck, the creative genius, and a private glimpse of Steinbeck, the man. © John Steinbeck 1969 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Christopher Ragland (Narrator)

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The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights: Penguin Modern Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. Steinbeck's first posthumously published work, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is a reinterpretation of tales from Malory's Morte d'Arthur. In this highly successful attempt to render Malory into Modern English, Steinbeck recreated the rhythm and tone of the original Middle English. © John Steinbeck 1976 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Nezar Alderazi (Narrator)

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Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Brought to you by Penguin. In 1960, John Steinbeck set out in his pick-up truck with his dog Charley to rediscover and chronicle his native USA, from Maine to California. He felt that he might have lost touch with its sights, sounds and the essence of the American people. Moving through the woods and deserts, dirt tracks and highways to large cities and glorious wildernesses, Steinbeck observed - with remarkable honesty, insight and a humorous eye - the gamut of America and the people who inhabited it. His 10,000-mile journey took him through almost forty states, where he saw things that made him proud, angry, sympathetic and elated. A rugged and passionate adventure of self-identity, Steinbeck's vision of the changing world still speaks to us prophetically through the decades. 'Delightful. This is a book to be read slowly for its savor.' The Atlantic © John Steinbeck 1962 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

John Steinbeck (Author), Gary Sinise (Narrator)

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The Pastures of Heaven: Penguin Modern Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. Each of these delightful interconnected tales is devoted to a family living in a fertile valley on the outskirts of Monterey, California, and the effects that one particular family has on them all. Steinbeck tackles two important literary traditions here; American naturalism, with its focus on the conflict between natural instincts and the demand to conform to society's norms, and the short story cycle. Set in the heart of 'Steinbeck land', the lush Californian valleys. © John Steinbeck 1932 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

John Steinbeck (Author), Sean Runnette (Narrator)

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Cannery Row: Penguin Modern Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World' Meet the gamblers, whores, drunks, bums and artists of Cannery Row in Monterey, California, during the Great Depression. They want to throw a party for their friend Doc, so Mack and the boys set about, in their own inimitable way, recruiting everyone in the neighbourhood to the cause. But along the way they can't help but get involved in a little mischief and misadventure. It wouldn't be Cannery Row if it was otherwise, now would it? Packed with a ramshackle joi de vivre, Cannery Row is Steinback's high-spirited tribute to his native California. 'Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.' 'Uninhibited, bawdy, compassionate, inquisitive, deeply intelligent' Daily Telegraph © John Steinbeck 1945 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

John Steinbeck (Author), Jerry Farden (Narrator)

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The Short Reign of Pippin IV: Penguin Modern Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. Steinbeck's only work of political satire turns the French Revolution on its head, as amateur astronomer Pippin Heristal is drafted in to rule the unruly French. Enchanting comedy ensues as Steinbeck creates the most hilarious royal court ever around the brief, bold reign of the corduroy-clad Pippin, his social-climbing wife Maria, his star-struck daughter Clotilde and her Californian beau, Todd. © John Steinbeck 1957 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

John Steinbeck (Author), Jefferson Mays (Narrator)

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The Pearl: Penguin Modern Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. When Kino, a poor Indian pearl-diver, finds 'the Pearl of the world' he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana and their son Coyotito will be able to attend school. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed and even violence the pearl arouses in him and his neighbours. Written with lyrical simplicity, The Pearl sets the values of the civilized world against those of the primitive and finds them tragically inadequate. © John Steinbeck 1947 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

John Steinbeck (Author), Hector Elizondo (Narrator)

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A Russian Journal

Brought to you by Penguin. Just after the iron curtain fell on Eastern Europe John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer, Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took the famous travellers not only to Moscow and Stalingrad - now Volgograd - but through the countryside of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. A RUSSIAN JOURNAL is the distillation of their journey and remains a remarkable memoir and unique historical document. Steinbeck and Capa recorded the grim realities of factory workers, government clerks, and peasants, as they emerged from the rubble of World War II. This is an intimate glimpse of two artists at the height of their powers, answering their need to document human struggle. © John Steinbeck 1948 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Richard Poe (Narrator)

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The Log from the Sea of Cortez

Brought to you by Penguin. In 1940 Steinbeck sailed in a sardine boat with his great friend the marine biologist, Ed Ricketts, to collect marine invertebrates from the beaches of the Gulf of California. The expedition was described by the two men in SEA OF CORTEZ, published in 1941. The day-to-day story of the trip is told here in the Log, which combines science, philosophy and high-spirited adventure. An exhilarating and highly entertaining read. © John Steinbeck 1951 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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Once There Was a War

Brought to you by Penguin. 'Do you know it, do you remember it, the drives, the attitudes, the terrors and, yes, the joys?' Thus Steinbeck introduces his collection of poignant and hard-hitting dispatches for the New York Herald Tribune when the Second World War was at its height. He begins in England, recounting the courage of the bomber crews, the tragic air-raids and the strangeness of the British, before being sent to Africa and joining a special operations unit off the coast of Italy. Eating, drinking talking and fighting alongside the soldiers, Steinbeck's empathy for the common man is always in evidence in these pieces, and he never fails to evoke the human side of an inhuman war. 'If you have forgotten what the war was like, Steinbeck will refresh your memory. Age can never dull this kind of writing.' Chicago Tribune © John Steinbeck 1958 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Lloyd James (Narrator)

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The Long Valley

Brought to you by Penguin. his classic collection of short stories serves as the ideal introduction to Steinbeck's work. Set in the idyllic Salinas Valley in California, where simple people farm the land and struggle to find a place for themeselves in the world, these stories reflect many of the concerns key to Steinbeck as a writer; the tensions between town and city, labourers and owners, past and present. Included here are the celebrated tales, THE MURDERER and THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. © John Steinbeck 1938 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

John Steinbeck (Author), Holter Graham (Narrator)

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