New York: The Viking Press, 1945. First edition. Second issue, in the canary yellow cloth. A Fine copy in Near Fine dust jacket. A lovely copy of the book. Contemporary ink ownership signature to upper free endpaper. Dust jacket with some chipping to edges and to one fold. Jacket spine a bit darkened and some dustsoiling to edges of flaps, but presenting very well. Overall a bright and appealing copy of Steinbeck's celebrated novel about the Cannery Row community of Monterey, California.

Steinbeck’s straightforward prose follows the trials and tribulations of the Cannery Row community in Great Depression-era Monterey. The novel begins with a singular focus: a group of friends will throw a thank-you party for Doc, a marine biologist. But such a venture envelops the larger community, and through this larger scope Cannery Row explores friendship, community, nostalgia, and the profound social effects of the Great Depression. Indeed, the fame of the novel would help turn Cannery Row into a kind of tourist attraction. Steinbeck had just come home from being a war correspondent, and the experience – along with his failing marriage – scarred him considerably. He began this book as kind of an escape, both for him and for his readers. Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. (Item #8070)