John Steinbeck is a novelist of the California experience. Born in Salinas in 1902, he grew up in the fertile Salinas Valley. That sharply beautiful and expansive landscape, where Steinbeck spent hours as a boy roaming the hills, shaped Steinbeck's creative vision. But the small town of Salinas, populated by energetic and enterprising Westerners, circumscribed the restless and rebellious young man, who had decided at age 14 that he wished to be a writer. To please his …showed first 75 words of 411 total…

…showed last 75 words of 411 total…through his epic treatment of the Salinas Valley, East of Eden (1952) written after his move to New York City envisions the dreams and defeats of common people as shaped by the magnificent land they inhabit. Cannery Row is one of America's most famous streets, it was popularized by Nobel and Pulitzer award winning author John Steinbeck. Here, hardworking whalers, fisherman, and cannery owners and workers struggled to enhance their lives and build a thriving industry.