The 'Gospel' According to Steinbeck
Steinbeck’s mother told him Bible stories from an early age which stood him in good stead when it came to writing many of this novels and stories. As he matured he showed evidence not only of knowing the stories but also of understanding them, often with quite sharp and penetrating incite, aided and abetted by his increasing awarenesss of Judaism and a friendly rabbi.
Did Steinbeck Know H Wheeler Robinson?
A paper relating John Steinbeck's understanding of Community to Wheeler Robinson's theory of Corporate Personality, clarifying the similarities and differences. Published in Steinbeck Studies, vol 15, no 1, Spring 2004, pp 73-87, with documentation and bibliography.
Did Steinbeck Have a Suffering Servant?
An examination of Steinbeck's relationship with people in his life and the characters in his fiction to see how far they resembled Isaiah's Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42: 1-4; 49: 1-6; 50: 4-9; 52: 13-53: 1-12), the idea of corporate personality and the Hebrew concept of the One and the Many, coming to the conclusion that Steinbeck's closest friend and confidant, Ed Ricketts, comes very close. Presented at the Bible and Literature Day at the University of Sussex, 2002 and in an abridged version at the Steinbeck Centennial Conference in New York, with documentation and bibliography.
A Steinbeck Midrash on Genesis 4: 7
A paper exploring the meaning of timshol in the light of Steinbeck's magnum opus, East of Eden. New and Recent Essays, in Michael J Meyer and Henry Veggian (eds), pp 257-288, published by Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam/New York, NY 2013 xxi, 300 pp (Dialogue 16) with documentation and bibliography.
This study (in the Dialogue series), designed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the novel's publication, contains critical writings from a number of literary fields, including a biographical essay, a travel essay, further essays on varied themes in Steinbeck's works, writing on critical approaches to Steinbeck and a new essay on Elia Kazan's film adaptation of the novel.