Novel by John Steinbeck, published in 1945. Like most of Steinbeck’s postwar work, Cannery Row is sentimental in tone while retaining the author’s characteristic social criticism. Peopled by stereotypical good-natured bums and warm-hearted prostitutes living on the fringes of Monterey, Calif., the picaresque novel celebrates lowlifes who are poor but happy. — The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

John Steinbeck knew and understood America and Americans better than any other writer of the twentieth century. (The Dallas Morning News) A man whose work was equal to the vast social themes that drove him. (Don DeLillo)