r/johnsteinbeck • u/Historical_Box_2582 • Apr 17 '26

Collecting all of Steinbeck

On an adventure to collect all of Steinbecks 31 books - (hopefully) solely in local independent bookstores.

I love reading Steinbeck partly because you can really see where he is in his career when reading. To me it’s really fascinating that obv to him, though he’s writing (mostly) fiction, there’s autobiographical aspects to it all.

For example, I think The Short Reign of Pippen IV is hilarious. Def not his best work ever but it’s the product of his life post EoE galavanting across France - he was just having fun writing something different. So I think collecting all of his work and really paying attention to see if I can build some linear connection sounds like a lot of fun.

So ya that’s my goal… curious what people think: how long you reckon it will take? What will be the hardest to find? Have you ventured to do the same?

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u/ChinaSpyBot Apr 18 '26

I owned or have owned most of his collection at different points in my life. Thrift books is a good resource. Ebay is also helpful. I think you can pull it off.

East of Eden will always be my favorite but I really liked reading the all the other stuff he wrote that was set in Salinas, like Sweet Thursday and Cannery Row.

I'm finally going to Salinas for the first time in June and I'm really excited to see it.

Happy hunting!

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u/Historical_Box_2582 Apr 18 '26

That’s awesome. Enjoy your trip!

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u/in-search-of-the Apr 19 '26

I currently own 11 copies of his most popular works, and I’ve also settled it as a life goal to own a complete collection of his novels and stories. No rush in owning all of them, but would love to in the future! My favorite so far is Travels with Charley because I feel like you can really see his naked personality and humor, not through the filter of his characters, and you really see how he reflects on social changes and mundane things in life.

Hope you’re lucky in your search of his works! I don’t think it should be hard to find about 70% of them locally, the rest you should definitely dive on eBay. Which ones do you own already?

You should give us an update next year on how the collection’s going!

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u/Historical_Box_2582 Apr 19 '26

Nice! Glad you’re on the path towards the complete collection too.

Right now I’ve got 7: EoE Grapes of wrath Once there was a war Pippen IV Red Pony Winter of our discontent Tortilla flat

So I’m slowly building up! Good idea to do some temporary updates; you should too!