Publication Date
4-5-2013
Program
Honors
First Advisor
Cutting, Rose Marie
Second Advisor
Uhlig, Paul X.
Document Type
Thesis
Medium
Manuscript
Abstract
The Grapes of Wrath, written during the Great Depression, became one of the most well-known and well-read novels in American Literature. Its publication helped create an awareness, or social consciousness, of the issues the American public was facing at that period in time. The Grapes of Wrath was written in 1938, published in 1939, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1941. Despite its acclaim, the novel could not have been properly conceptualized or released without the influence of Pascal Covici, John Steinbeck's editor.
The two men's relationship began when Covici-Friede Publishers released Tortilla Flat, Steinbeck's second novel, in 1935. Their partnership and friendship lasted over 30 years, until Steinbeck's death in 1968. The Grapes of Wrath was the first novel published by Viking Press, the firm that Covici joined after his partnership with Donald Friede ended. Letters from the John Steinbeck Collection at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin detail the struggles and, at times frustration that Steinbeck experienced while completing The Grapes of Wrath. The correspondence between Steinbeck and Covici also reveals the level of trust and amicability between the two men. Their relationship was more than that of an author and editor, it was a friendship founded upon mutual respect and understanding. The letters, dated 1938-1942, represent a fraction of the correspondence between John Steinbeck and Pascal Covici through the span of Steinbeck's literary career. The letters reveal the influence that Covici had in publishing The Grapes of Wrath but, more importantly, they reveal an editor's role in the creation of one of the most popular novels of the 20th century.
Recommended Citation
Clark, Jessica F., "Steinbeck and Covici: The Men Behind The Gropes of Wrath" (2013). Honors Program Theses and Research Projects. 64.
https://commons.stmarytx.edu/honorstheses/64
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