John Steinbeck, The Harvest Gypsies

Michael J. Meyer (DePaul University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1936

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Essays/ Lectures (any)

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The idea for “The Harvest Gypsies” began in 1936 when

The San Francisco News

commissioned John Steinbeck to write a series of articles in order to document the lifestyles of the large number of Dust Bowl refugees who were migrating west to California hoping to find employment as agricultural laborers. Intrigued by the assignment, Steinbeck immediately purchased an old bakery truck to travel in and planned his route into middle California’s agricultural district, determined to live among the workers and experience their plight firsthand. What he found there shocked and outraged him, and his anger erupted as he composed the articles that became a seven-part journalistic series. Published between October 5 and October 11, 1936, the articles are often considered to be the source…

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2887 words

Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "The Harvest Gypsies". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23075, accessed 25 November 2024.]

John Steinbeck, The Harvest Gypsies

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