Among them, the novel was designed as a tribute to a man and to a friendship. Cannery Row is, and I’m sure was 12 Western American Literature meant to be, many things.

This statement rings true, although I don’t think it is the whole truth. Then he added to the confu sion by suggesting several years later that the novel was a “nostalgic thing” written as relaxation from the depression caused him by his experiences as a war correspondent.

Steinbeck himself added to the mystery of the book by indicating on several occasions that there was more to Cannery Row than the critics had been able to discover. One of the things that makes the book so attractive is that it has been such a puzzle. And those who have been obliged to write something about Cannery Row in the course of writing a book about Steinbeck’s work have appeared to be, more often than not, at a loss for something to say. Relatively little has been written about it - two major articles, a handful of notes, and another half dozen or so chapters or parts of chapters in critical books. But if not a comedy, what was it? A comedy turned sour? A mish-mash of odds and ends? While on the one hand the book has become a favorite among many Steinbeck readers and has turned Ed Ricketts into legend and Cannery Row itself into a mecca for tourists, on the other hand, the novel still baffles the critics. At second glance the novel had too much death and too much bitterness to be considered nothing more than a light entertain ment. At first glance the novel appeared to be a return to the social comedy and light satire of Tortilla Flat, and that, following the heavy impact of The Grapes of Wrath, seemed to most reviewers to be a giant step backwards. It was an odd time to write a funny book. B E N S O N John Steinbeck's Cannery Row: A Reconsideration John Steinbeck wrote Cannery Row at about the mid-point of our involvement in World War II. San Diego State University J A C K S O N J. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

John steinbeck row