America and Americans: And Selected Nonfiction

Its present lackluster era notwithstanding, America still commands the world's attention and arouses curiosity. No matter how much we read about the country, how frequently we visit there, even live there for years, we have the nagging feeling that we do not understand its true essence. And that is not for want of pertinent information. The mass of available statistical data is beyond imagination. So is the daily, weekly and monthly output by journalists. There is no lack of in-depth analyses by eminent economists, sociologists and political scientists. And yet, it is hard to distill from all of the above an essence that speaks to me, the common everyday man. I am a native of Germany who spent most of his life in Brazil. I have always had a deep interest in American literature and have done my best to get a good glimpse of it, but even that is not an easy job. Whereas the name of John Steinbeck is fully familiar, I had always associated him with his California novels. Only recently did I take an opportunity to look at his postwar production and felt immediately attracted by the title 'America and Americans'. I certainly was not disappointed. The book offers in rich measure what is so hard to come by, the human aspect, offered in understandable, indeed beautiful language, by an unusually lucid observer. Even though the country and its society have changed dramatically over the forty years since the date it was published, the book looses nothing of its informative value. It provides a picture of a point in time, and tells of the values of that time. That is an excellent backdrop to contemplate the present moment and reflect on future options.

This is only essential for hardcore Steinbeck fans, but his insight and singular turns of phrase pervade this prolific collection. Of particular note is his homage to his three best teachers, less than two pages long, called "...like captured fireflies." America and Americans is dated in parts, but his takes on corporations and America's obsession with children are prescient, and his indefatigable optimism essential. A different resonance than the novels, but of the same calibur.

Steinbeck, as he and the annotator in this book repeatedly declare, let his interests range freely in his choice of nonfiction subjects. The whimsical pieces darn near steal the show. There's an affectionate account of his old Model T, and how its radiator happened one day to spew hot oatmeal all over his mother while riding in downtown L.A. There's a self-deprecating sports article, in which he proposes the sport of oak tree racing. There are some quite funny and surprisingly touching dog stories. The man could make *anything* a joy to read!But the meat of the "selected nonfiction" section is the 1930s reportage of the California migrants, which would later become the basis of his Depression novels. It is a searing experience even seventy years later, being made to watch formerly solid American citizens being ground into the mire by poverty, malnutrition, and hopelessness.Even his much-denounced Vietnam coverage has unmistakably Steinbeckian passages of humanity. He goes for a combat patrol in an AC-47, a "Magic Dragon", and frankly confesses his fear. He flashes back to conversations with combat journalists and ordinary soldiers, who were killed very shortly thereafter. He accurately contrasts the omnipresent threat of guerrilla attacks with the more formal setpiece battles of previous wars--and portrays the confusion this arouses in the public back home.The final bit is the republished _America and Americans_, which is one long cry of "Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?" Perfectly understandable for someone of his age and background encountering the Sixties for the first time... But even here his native American optimism refuses to let him despair. He concludes, "We have failed sometimes, taken wrong paths, paused for renewal, filled our bellies and licked our wounds; but we have never slipped back--never."

John Steinbeck (1902-68) wrote newspaper columns for two years during the 1950s in addition to reporting on the 1956 presidential nominating conventions and stints as a war correspondent during World War II and the Vietnam War. He also wrote some articles for magazines and the ruminations on America for a book of photographs that was his last book (and which fills about a quarter of this collection).Always he wrote about his impressions, primarily of people. The best pieces in this collection are not accounts of foreign wars but of people in distinct places. Like Steinbeck's life, the book begins with Salinas, California, continues through San Francisco and New York City to Sag Harbor on Long Island, where Steinbeck lived in the 1950s and 60s. In the "Journalist Abroad" section there are strong pieces on people in Positano and Ireland. And there is a section on friends (all male, of course) including a long memoir of his idol and naturalist mentor, Ed Ricketts, and short but very illuminating memoirs of the popular WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle and the photographer Robert Capa (who accompanied Steinbeck on his Russian visit), plus concise tributes to Adlai Stevenson as an orator and to Henry Fonda as an actor.The section "On writing" is regrettably short, and the selections of WWII colums from _Once There Was a War_ (a book which is in print) are mystifyingly missing the best ones, which Steinbeck wrote during the invasion of Italy. The Vietnam reports are unconvincing propaganda from what he presented as a war against Mao. (Brezhnev, perhaps, but not Mao!)Many of the pieces are entertaining in the mock heroic Steinbeck manner of _Tortilla Flat_ and _Travels with Charley_ and some are moving. The text "America and Americans" had little impact. It certainly has not supplanted Tocqueville's analysis of democracy in America, but is not without interest. As generally for Steinbeck in fiction or nonfiction, the description of particular individuals is more interesting than the generalizations. The editors provide useful introductions to the sections, but must think that Steinbeck's ideas and craft of the 1960s was the same as those of the 1930s. It is difficult but not impossible to find out when a particular piece was published but this vital information is not included in either the table of contents or with the title of the pieces.

As an educator interested not only in John Steinbeck's literature but also in his function as a cultural critic, I find this wonderful new edition, put together to coincide with a series of Steinbeck Centennial events going on all around America in 2002, to be a marvelous source of information. This will bring one of Steinbeck's lesser known and later works, "America and Americans," to the attention of many more people, and that text, which is both a celebration of the American experience and a cautionary warning about where we were headed, as Steinbeck saw it in the 1960s, would be a great selection for book club groups to read and discuss in this centennial year. This 400+ page collection also has seven thematic chapters that explore Steinbeck's nonfiction and journalistic writing in these topic areas: places he loved, socio-political struggles, the craft of writing, friends and friendship, travel abroad, being a war correspondent, and miscellanea. This is great bedside reading: something delicious to dip into, eloquent and thoughtful, and one can jump around.The editors are both noted Steinbeck scholars who are making this man accessible to the common people (we, the salt of the earth, whom he champions and celebrates in so many of his writings). Perhaps I am partial to John Steinbeck because I live in "Steinbeck Country," but I still think his works deserve our attention and study in the 21st century. He had a lot of significant insights--this book is a wonderful follow-up for those who have only yet experienced his fiction.