John Steinbeck, the Good Companion - Softcover

Sheffield, Carlton A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0887393500 ISBN 13: 9780887393501

Publisher: Creative Arts Book Co, 2002

Synopsis

Chronicles the life of the American novelist through the eyes of a longtime friend and drinking companion, discussing Steinbeck's education, jobs, writing, and personality.

About this title

About the Author

CARLTON A. SHEFFIELD was recalled in later life by Steinbeck: "…Sheffield was down last weekend…He is still picking at pronunciations and grammatical excellences. In many ways he has the qualities of a medieval schoolman."

Reviews

The late author of this engrossing memoir which appeared in a limited edition 20 years ago met Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck in 1919 at Stanford University, where they were classmates. The two became intimate friends three years later, their connection resting on a common literary sensibility an "awareness of the intricacy of language and its delicious potentials" as well as a fondness for drink and adventure. According to Richard H.A. Blum (chair of the American Lives Endowment, which supported the publication of this memoir), who supplied a rather rambling introduction, "Dook [Sheffield] was the major source of Steinbeck's earlier writing strength," and he "was for Steinbeck an immense resource as support, reader-critic, sporting-life companion and dearest friend in early manhood." Steinbeck was immensely important to Sheffield as well: the latter "in many ways defined his self-worth by virtue of that friendship." Blum is strangely perhaps even inappropriately critical of Sheffield, suggesting he is "flat," emotionless and even envious of Steinbeck's success, while "bitter" about his own failures. In the memoir itself, however, Sheffield successfully sublimates any alleged bitterness, instead providing us with a lively, honest account of an important, influential friendship that lasted, on and off, for close to 50 year. Sheffield's simple rationale for the memoir: "I realized I knew things about Steinbeck that were available nowhere else." While scholars will surely find new materials on the life of this famously swaggering writer, Sheffield warns us that his memoir "is not a biography, nor is it a commentary or a critique." It draws heavily upon a fairly extensive written correspondence between Sheffield and Steinbeck, although their letters up to 1933 were destroyed at Steinbeck's command, a sizable documentary loss to fans and scholars alike.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

This affectionate, well-written memoir by a lifelong friend of John Steinbeck was first published and distributed on a limited basis in 1982 under the auspices of the American Lives Endowment, a nonprofit organization. Since then, Steinbeck's place in American letters has solidified, justifying another look at Sheffield's work. At first glance, it may seem that Sheffield (a.k.a. Dook) played a tangential role in Steinbeck's life, but he proved to be a rock, supporting the author both as friend and literary critic. Steinbeck, in turn, dedicated his Nobel Prize speech to this unsung friend. It was, however, an unusual relationship: Steinbeck, by Dook's own admission, seemed to be continually irritated by Dook's fussy ways. With the exception of his fastidious chronicling of Steinbeck's life and work, Dook led an unremarkable life, falling far short of his own literary ambitions. Portions of Steinbeck's correspondence are included, as are the excellent notes by Terry White, making this book of particular use to Steinbeck scholars. Recommended for larger literature collections. Diane Gardner Premo, Rochester P.L., NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Creative Arts Book Co
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0887393500
• ISBN 13: 9780887393501
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 182