Mad at the World

A Life of John Steinbeck

By: William Souder

Narrated by: David Colacci

The first full-length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a quarter century, Mad at the World illuminates what has made the work of John Steinbeck an enduring part of the literary canon: his capacity for empathy. Angered by the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants who were starving even as they toiled to harvest California's limitless bounty and appalled by the country's refusal to recognize the humanity common to all of its citizens, Steinbeck took a stand against social injustice - paradoxically given his inherent misanthropy.

A man by turns quick-tempered, compassionate, and ultimately brilliant, Steinbeck could be a difficult person to like. Obsessed with privacy, he was mistrustful of people. Next to writing, his favorite things were drinking and womanizing and getting married, which he did three times. And while he claimed indifference about success, his mid-career books and movie deals made him a lot of money. And yet Steinbeck also took aim at the corrosiveness of power, the perils of income inequality, and the urgency of ecological collapse.

Steinbeck remains our great social realist novelist, the writer who gave the dispossessed and the disenfranchised a voice in American life and letters. Eloquent, nuanced, and deeply researched, Mad at the World captures the full measure of the man and his work.

©2020 William Souder (P)2020 Tantor

Stunning Details

Wow. What a life! All the investigation and research that went into the making of this story about one of the greatest authors of all time. Wives, friends, family, travel, houses, children, fame and fortune. Those topics just skim the surface!

Steinbeck prepares for the American Enlightment

Steinbeck ate my grandmothers pasta. Did he like it? He went to Stanford with my uncle,a lawyer. Souder gets Steinbeck, great book.

A comprehensive and in depth look at Steinbeck.

Its written like Steinbeck novel, it takes hold of you, and you enjoy it in the same way

Amazing !

Learned much about about the personality and life of one of the most prolific fiction writers in history. Obsessed with the need to write and compelled to write at the cost losing friends, family and health.

impressed

got to understand Steinbeck as a flawed and great human being. The narrator really draws me into the story. enjoyed it a lot