John Steinbeck, East of Eden

Michael J. Meyer (DePaul University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1952

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Although most critics consider

The Grapes of Wrath

(1939) as John Steinbeck's masterpiece, the author himself considered

East of Eden

(1952) as the zenith of his literary career, a work for which he felt all the others were merely practice. After originally entitling the novel “My Valley” and later “The Salinas Valley”, and considering “Canable” and “Valley of the World”, Steinbeck decided upon the title

East of Eden

after rereading the Genesis account of Cain's banishment from the perfect garden to the land of Nod, located “east of Eden”. Considering this event took place after the murder of Abel and that the author considered the recounting of first murder to be “the symbol story of the human soul”, Steinbeck seems to have selected the title because it suggested…

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3476 words

Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "East of Eden". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 October 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5458, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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