Cannery Row
Without much of a plot, Cannery Row is an attempt to paint a picture of the feeling and people of a place - a cannery district in Monterey, California populated by those "down on their luck" and those who choose for various other reasons to not live "up the hill" in a more orthodox area of town. The story of Cannery Row follows Mack and the boys, a group of bums yet necessary men who inhabit Lee Chong's vacant fish-meal shack. Their goal is to do something nice for Doc, the owner of Western Biological Laboratories, a biological supply house, who is a curious, open-minded man, a friend, and a caretaker to all even though he always seems lonely and set-apart. The party goes awry. Soon an influenza epidemic and other problems occur in Cannery Row. A tide of luck changes, however. And after Doc nurses back Mack's sick puppy to health, Mack and the boys decide to throw another party for Doc that turns out to be successful. Themes such as the need for acceptance and the importance of community are conveyed in the novel.
John Steinbeck knew and understood America and Americans better than any other writer of the twentieth century.
The Dallas Morning News
A man whose work was equal to the vast social themes that drove him.
Don DeLillo
