Description
Author Duet: John Steinbeck’s Short Novels PLUS Steinbeck’s lost short story “The Amiable Fleas”
A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Steinbeck’s brilliant short novels
Collected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck’s most widely read and beloved novels. From the tale of commitment, loneliness and hope in Of Mice and Men, to the tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society in Cannery Row, to The Pearl’s examination of the fallacy of the American dream, Steinbeck stories of realism, that were imbued with energy and resilience.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Steinbeck’s Lost Short Story: “The Amiable Fleas”
The new Steinbeck story, “The Amiable Fleas” revolves around a discerning cat named Apollo who serves as critic and confidant to the chef of a gourmet restaurant. Add in some family conflict and a restaurant critic and you have all the ingredients of a short comedic masterpiece.
From the humorous we shift to the sinister with “Final Interview” by the inimitable Joyce Carol Oates. It is a treat to publish such a prolific and influential writer, and Oates does not disappoint—offering a story about a burnt-out writer, a pathological youth, and a condescending journalist, all seemingly headed on a collision course. Also in this issue, Robin Yocum warns us not to underestimate an over-the-hill mobster with “The Last Hit,” and David Marcum, takes Holmes and Watson back to Dartmoor—of The Hound of the Baskervilles fame—to investigate a cold case in “The Dowser’s Discovery.”
For our spotlight interview we caught up with bestselling author and investigative journalist Hank Phillippi Ryan, who not only has earned critical and popular acclaim for her mystery novels, but has a reputation as one of the kindest and most gregarious mystery authors. Ryan shared experiences as an investigative journalist and offered a dose of pep for all those authors sitting on their manuscripts or trying to chase a trend.
We also have the latest book, audiobook, and DVD reviews.
The Strand Magazine continues to bring our readers the best in fiction, interviews with authors, as well as insightful book and audiobook reviews. In addition to the new Steinbeck short story, we’ve featured unpublished works other legendary authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Chandler, H.G. Wells, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, and Tennessee Williams.
