On this day in 1968 the Nobel Prize–winning novelist John Steinbeck died. His groundbreaking book, of course, was The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939. Critics of literary celebrity in the 21st century would do well to read the essay on Steinbeck published in The Nation that November, written by then–literary editor Margaret Marshall, which addresses the question of whether Steinbeck would let the fame go to his head and whether the film version of the novel then in production would violate the spirit of his work.
He has had little experience of the urban side of American life, including the “literary” world, which he avoids. on the other hand, an intense love of nature and of rural life are more than apparent in his books, most of which deal with the land and people close to the land, He is said to have a dread of insecurity, which is ascribed to years of living from hand to mouth but probably springs from deeper sources—the sense of insecurity might be called the national neurosis; he still lives frugally, and I understand that he has distributed his considerable earnings among various banks in deposits of $5,000, the maximum amount guaranteed by the government. But though he has been sensible enough to insure his economic future, there is no evidence to suggest that he is unduly cautious or has any respect for respectability.…
“The Grapes of Wrath” is now being filmed. Mr. Steinbeck told Darryl Zanuck in a reported interview that he was keeping in reserve the $75,000 he got for the movie rights and intended to sue if the picture violates the theme and spirit of the book. Mr. Zanuck told Mr. Steinbeck that he had had detectives investigate the plight of the Okies and had been informed that conditions were much worse than Steinbeck pictures them. This suggests a new social use for detectives which only a Hollywood producer would have thought up.
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