Working Days: The Journals of the Grapes of Wrath, 1938-1941

lvii, [1], 180, [2] pp. 8vo. "These journal notations, which Steinbeck used as 'stretching exercises' to warm up to his daily 2000-word stints during his five months' labor on Grapes , shed an interesting light on his working habits. His references to the novel-in-progress take the completed novel pretty much for granted--much as a marathon runner is far less concerned with the route and the finish line than with what mile-marker he is at, how his condition is, and whether he will be able to slog out the distance. Few readers of Grapes , with its irresistible narrative drive and effortless panoramic prose style, would guess at the dogged, self-doubting day-laborer's mood of these notes. The accompanying commentary and annotations by the editor are informative, generally judicious, and relatively thorough." -- Library Journal