Steinbeck's Landscapes

“An enthralling portrait of the places that shaped John Steinbeck and his work. Sumptuously illustrated, Steinbeck's Landscapes pairs the author’s beloved homeland with the books from which it is inseparable. An affecting and deeply evocative book.”—William Souder, author of Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck

“John Steinbeck is lucky that fate selected Susan Shillinglaw to tend the garden of his legacy. She has listened to the wind in the trees, and felt the dirt underneath the feet of his characters. She has eaten the mushrooms on the ground and touched the squirmy intertidal critters of his heart’s home. This is a lovely and wise book because no one knows Steinbeck’s world better than Susan Shillinglaw.”—John Straley, author of Big Breath In and former Alaska Writer Laureate

“Susan Shillinglaw has peered into the Steinbeck legacy through so many lenses that she has redefined the legacy of his lifework. Through her eyes, you will see Steinbeck in an altogether distinctive light. ”—Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Water in the Desert: A Pilgrimage

“Steinbeck’s Landscapes captures Shillinglaw’s own love of place and of this author. Passages from texts are meticulously chosen and surrounded by images of California’s history and landscape—an almost magical place of great beauty.”—Barbara A. Heavilin, Editor-in-Chief, Steinbeck Review

“Steinbeck’s Landscapes is at once travel narrative, literary study, and intimate biography—richly imbued with the colors, textures, and spirit of the California terrain, and the far-flung places beyond it, that shaped the life and imagination of John Steinbeck . . . an essential read for scholars, admirers, and anyone seeking to understand Steinbeck more deeply."—Katie Rodger, editor of Ed Ricketts’s letters and essays: Renaissance Man of Cannery Row and Breaking