The Winter of Our Discontent

By: John Steinbeck, Susan Shillinglaw, Susan Shillinglaw - introduction

Narrated by: David Aaron Baker

The final novel of one of America’s most beloved writers—a tale of degeneration, corruption, and spiritual crisis

A Penguin Classic

In awarding John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American.” Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With Ethan no longer a member of Long Island’s aristocratic class, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards. Set in Steinbeck’s contemporary 1960 America, the novel explores the tenuous line between private and public honesty, and today ranks alongside his most acclaimed works of penetrating insight into the American condition. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction and notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Critic reviews

By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

steinbeck rarely writes a bad book.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Winter of Our Discontent to be better than the print version?

i remember reading it in highschool. i did not like it. so i guess the audio version is a lot better but i think maybe now that i am 60 i view things a BIT differently as i did as a teenager.

What did you like best about this story?

i liked the overall plot, the reader, the character development, and the main character, the grocery clerk--ethan and his dreams and immagination. i just liked everything.

Which character – as performed by David Aaron Baker – was your favorite?

mr. baker (not my fave person but i liked the way he was portrayed.

If you could take any character from The Winter of Our Discontent out to dinner, who would it be and why?

ethan, he had so many dreams and misadventures in his dreams. i think he is very likable.

Any additional comments?

steinbeck rules!

Def worth a listen

If you like Steinbeck you’ll enjoy this book. Not on the level of Eden or Grapes but still worth it.

Brilliant book; brilliant narrator!

Worth every second. And wow, this narrator so far surpasses every other I've heard to date.

A classic and great performance

This one slipped by my high school education for some reason. So, catching up later in life. This is a wonderful and beautifully unfolding story of family, community, history, hopes and more. The narrator was fantastic. You could just see many of the characters from his interpretations. He was especially spot on for our main protagonist. This is epic, engaging and absolutely a recommendation from one of our great American writers.

Beautiful character study

This is a beautiful study in self-reflection. It was a little slow at the start and I almost gave up on it. Ethan just seemed eternally silly. When that silliness came in contrast to his inner thoughts, I started to understand. There is much ambiguity including the ending, but life is full of ambiguities. Excellent as are all Steinbeck's writings.