Intended as an accessible resource for students researching America's greatest literary figures, this collection of essays about John Steinbeck's (1902-1968) work contains an in-depth biography and essays taken from a wide variety of sources. The essays are edited to accommodate the reading and comprehension levels of young adults; each essay is introduced by a concise summation of the contributor's themes and insights. Additional features include an annotated table of contents, a chronology of the author's life and career as well as of concurrent historical events, and primary and secondary bibliographies to facilitate research. The 21 essays and their authors include: "How Six Short Novels Came To Be" (1957) (John Steinbeck); "John Steinbeck's Naturalism" (1956) (Charles Child Walcutt); "Escape and Commitment in John Steinbeck's Heroes" (1970) (Peter Lisca); "John Steinbeck's Mature Style in 'The Red Pony'" (1939) (Harry Thornton Moore); "The Parable of 'The Pearl'" (1974) (Howard Levant); "Symbolic Creatures in 'The Pearl'" (1974) (Martha Heasley Cox); "Attitudes toward the Poor in 'Of Mice and Men'" (1957) (Edward Berry Burgum); "'Of Mice and Men': A Knight Dismounted and a Dream Ended" (1961) (Warren French); "Indestructible Women in 'The Grapes of Wrath'" (1988) (Mimi Reisel Gladstein); and "John Steinbeck Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987) (Carl E. Rallyson, Jr.). (NKA)