John Steinbeck, Unlocked: “East of Eden is Going to Take a Bad Beating”
In a 1949 letter to his editor, Pascal Covici, John Steinbeck lamented the prevailing fear and hatred of ideas and speculations found in many reviews of his work. He believed that readers could only fully grasp parables when they were cloaked in human form, as attempts to present ideas purely through thought were unsettling. In this context, Steinbeck anticipated that his novel "East of Eden" would be met with significant criticism due to its heavy reliance on complex ideas and speculations.
The magazine's editorial team compiled various comments Steinbeck had made in unsent letters to Covici, covering subjects such as "the art of writing," "titles," and "luck," primarily drawn from these letters penned while Steinbeck was working on "East of Eden." In the autumn of 1975, the Review published an extension of the aforementioned interview, with Steinbeck offering insights on "hack writing," "having a writer in the family," and "fame."
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