EDITOR’S COLUMN

Steinbeck Review, authorized publication on the life and works of John Steinbeck, is issuing a call for subscriptions. This prestigious, peer-reviewed journal is indexed by the international database SCOPUS and the European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences. With other Penn State University Press journals, it partners with Duke University Press as part of the Scholarly Publishing Collective, which is backed by the Silverchair platform and joined by sixty-two other journals. It is an honor to publish with this journal, and the reader will find articles, poems, and Steinbeck news updates that delight as well as inform. Steinbeck Review is one of the sponsors for the upcoming international Steinbeck conference to be held in 2026.We invite new and renewal subscriptions to this inspiring, and informative journal through which the voice of John Steinbeck continues to speak to our conscience, our nation, our heart and minds. To subscribe to Steinbeck Review, follow these instructions on the San José State University website:Please note: For Canada & Mexico, add $5.00 for postage, while for those outside of North America, add $8.00 for postage.Some scholars have viewed Sweet Thursday as a sequel that falls short of achieving the artistic heights of its predecessor, Cannery Row. In John Castiglione’s “Trauma and Homecoming—Epic Themes in Sweet Thursday,” he challenges this view of the 1954 text. He posits that Sweet Thursday functions not as a thematic sequel to Cannery Row as traditionally held, but to its immediate chronological predecessor in Steinbeck’s canon, East of Eden. Drawing on themes that formulate the foundation of Western myth and literature, Castiglione examines the personal impact of global conflict, homecoming, and a posttraumatic response. By concluding that Sweet Thursday deserves a renewed evaluation, Castiglione suggests that this novel should take its place among the most remarkable of Steinbeck’s late period works, as it provides the key to unlocking Steinbeck’s struggle with his epic work, East of Eden.In “Dreams Turned into Nightmares: Reimagining the American Dream in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men,” Nouh Alguzo demonstrates that the traditional Western ideal of material success is symbolically exposed as unattainable for working-class characters in this novel. Alguzo maintains that throughout his narrative, Steinbeck suggests that the American Dream has transformed into a nightmare for workers who harbor little optimism about achieving their aspirations in a violent and morally corrupt society. From a Marxist stance, readers can infer skepticism about this dream as it suppresses the awareness of the lower classes by attributing their failures to laziness, thus perpetuating further exploitation. Alguzo also draws on Steinbeck’s other works, primarily The Grapes of Wrath, to further illuminate the recurring themes of disillusionment of working-class communities and to highlight the broader societal critique embedded in the narrative—particularly intersectionally marginalized groups such as women and racial minorities.“Local Distinction: The Power of Place in Steinbeck’s Monterey Trilogy” by Gene Slepov examines Steinbeck’s use of setting in Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row, and Sweet Thursday from an underappreciated perspective, that of a phenomenological analysis of the interactions between place and consciousness in everyday life. Slepov compares the dynamics of a mutually reinforcing relationship between a subject and its place. Despite their unique individuality, Steinbeck’s colorful ne’er-do-wells, social parasites, and vagabonds act in unison when it comes to responding with strategies for making a home in an inherited environment at the gritty margins of the city. Slepov explores how they accomplish this feat across the Monterey trilogy. Steinbeck brings to life two evocative locations by dramatizing their transformations into homes that are themselves embedded in a larger unit: a ramshackle cottage in the hills above the downtown and an abandoned warehouse situated amid the remnants of the city’s industrial infrastructure. When Steinbeck’s paisanos decide to root themselves in such an environment, they adopt a mode of dwelling that merges the vernacular and the industrial. Slepov observes that underneath Steinbeck’s use of comical juxtaposition lies a more serious endeavor to represent people and place in reciprocal interaction.Richard Astro initiates a call to recognition of a little-known poet in “Biscuits and Gravy: The Poetry of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel.” Comparing McDaniel to Steinbeck, Astro draws on her influential role in capturing her personal experiences of the Dust Bowl migration and documenting her daily life. McDaniel’s poetry is remarkable for its deep connection to place, use of everyday speech, and ability to find beauty in the mundane. Astro collects and analyzes her pieces across other conversations, interviews, and publications. Her work, often written on scraps of paper, remained largely unpublished until she began sharing it with local newspapers in the 1970s, and despite facing challenges as a working-class writer, McDaniel eventually published more than twenty volumes of poetry and prose. Astro believes that engaging with McDaniel’s work enhances Steinbeck’s readers’ understanding of historical and literary frameworks.In “Disability, Racism, and Sexism in Of Mice and Men,” Alessio Giovene demonstrates the book’s depiction of themes of marginalization, injustice, and exploitation that characterize the sociocultural construct of disability and are further connected with the eugenic beliefs diffused in Europe and America in the 1930s. In doing so, Giovene moves disability from the sphere of medicine into that of political minorities and analyzes the representations of Steinbeck’s positions on racism and misogyny in the novella. Giovene maintains that the disabled, African American, and female characters all share a body represented as corporeal deficiency and anomaly. And these representations become places for social anxieties about such troubling matters as vulnerability, control, and identity. At the end of the story, Steinbeck’s realistic world has no space for otherness. At the same time, Giovene explores the writer’s suggestion that the characters experiencing discrimination are the only ones who are still truly human and demonstrate worthwhile expectations.In “Steinbeck Today,” Jon Falsarella Dawson collects international contemporary notes and reviews of Steinbeck’s works and inspired artistic projects in recent months. In the first half of 2024, the enduring cultural impact of John Steinbeck manifested through dramatic adaptations of The Grapes of Wrath, including productions from London’s National Theatre and the Rockville Little Theatre, in addition to a revival of Ricky Ian Gordon’s operatic version. Dawson also explores two new plays released in the past year, Mother Road and The Berries of Wrath, both of which build on ideas and themes from Steinbeck’s masterpiece to reflect contemporary conditions. By collecting and contrasting the impact of Steinbeck’s continuing influence today, Dawson also draws on the thematic connection that readers and audience can gain regarding the power of community and of socially conscious positions on critical modern conflicts. Selma Moss-Ward’s poem ‘“Migrants” presents a contemporary response to this ancient phenomenon.This issue of Steinbeck Review includes two book reviews. In her review of David Aberbach’s The Environment and Literature of Moral Dilemmas: From Adam to Michael K, Susan Shillinglaw examines the book’s focus on the cross-disciplinary approach to environmental and moral crises reflected in literature. Aberbach studies the roots of ecological concerns from the Hebrew Bible and how readers reflect upon revisiting such historical events. While Shillinglaw appreciates Aberbach’s comprehensive scope, she notes the book’s occasional lack of depth, especially on Steinbeck coverage. The biblical symbolism, she observes, is apparent in Aberbach’s discussion on The Grapes of Wrath, alongside Edenic California, his own personal spiritual beliefs, and views of organized religion.Hanna Sanders’s review breaks down the need for social awareness of Asian misrepresentation in American culture explored in The Tao of S: America’s Chinee & the Chinese Century in Literature and Film by Sheng-Mei Ma. While Steinbeck has a minimal appearance in Ma’s text, Sanders draws on the importance of his inclusion in analyzing foundational Western classical portrayals of Chinese characters. Lee’s character in East of Eden is brought to this conversation for his representation of a domestic figure within a setting of diminishing Asian presence. Ma believes that reclaiming power by refusing to yield to white supremacy in its entirety reveals the need for discussing race-based power imbalances in the presentation of servanthood in literature.Peter Van Coutren updates the highlights, achievements, and ongoing projects of the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. The recent acquisition of a sword with a declaration of knighthood, a childhood gift from Steinbeck to his sister Mary as a symbol of her courage against cancer, has found its home with the Center. The addition of a pistol that Steinbeck owned while living in Sag Harbor is an anticipated addition to the collection soon. Alongside ever-evolving archival opportunities, the Center is delighted to announce its growth and educational presence, including expanding Shillinglaw’s photo exhibit of Steinbeck’s home movies, exploring the 1940s illustrations of Grapes of Wrath by Thomas Hart Benton, and an extensive audit of the Steinbeck bibliography. Finally, the Martha Heasley Cox Center honors the retirement of Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott, a significant contributor, researcher, and advocate for the Center and its mission.We look forward to a special issue of the journal in the Spring 2025 of the journal, titled “Steinbeck, Race, and Ethnicity.” It will be coedited by Barbara A. Heavilin and Charles Etheridge.Please check to be sure your journal subscription is up to date and renew if it is not. Through you, Steinbeck’s voice is still alive and vibrant.