Cannery Row

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck was originally published in 1945. A Nobel Prize-winning writer, Steinbeck grew up in Salinas, California, which is near Monterey—the location of Cannery Row. Aside from a few years in Palo Alto, New York, and Los Angeles, Steinbeck spent most of his adult life living in Monterey County, and he drew on his personal experiences to write Cannery Row.

Considered literary fiction or classic literature, Cannery Row is realistic and was written close to the time in which it’s set—the era of the Great Depression. Steinbeck focuses on portraying the lower-class community, or people on the edges of respectable society, as well as the local landscape and animals. Cannery Row and its sequel, Sweet Thursday, were made into a film, directed by David S. Ward, in 1982. J. R. Hall wrote a theatrical adaptation, which was first performed in 1994. The novel explores several main themes: The Function of Community, Questioning the Nature of Success, and Sense of Place.

This guide cites the 1994 Penguin Classics edition, which includes an introduction by Susan Shillinglaw.

Content Warning: This novel contains depictions of death by suicide, infanticide, and alcohol abuse.