1948: 'A Russian Journal'-A report from Steinbeck on his travels through the Soviet Union during Joseph Stalin's rule.

1947: 'The Pearl'-An immense pearl brings ill-effects to an oyster fisherman's family.

1947: 'The Wayward Bus'-Interactions of a cross-section of people at a crossroads bus stop in California.

1945-'Cannery Row'-A story of a disastrous party thrown by the inhabitants of a small town in California for their friend Doc.1942: 'Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team'-A nonfiction account of Steinbeck's experiences with several World War II American Army Air bomber crews.1942: 'The Moon Is Down'-A story of a small coastal town in northern Europe that is overrun by an unnamed army (thought to be a fictionalization of the occupation of Norway by the Nazis in World War II).1941: 'The Forgotten Village'-A documentary film written by Steinbeck and narrated by Burgess Meredith, about a Mexican village grappling with modernization.Steinbeck's best-known novel and winner of the Pulitzer and other literary prizes. 1939: 'The Grapes of Wrath'-A poor migrant family from Oklahoma and their struggles to find a place in California.He eventually decides that the changes are inevitable, though, and by the time he arrives in his unrecognizable hometown, he has accepted that the America he longs for is already well in the past. He worries about these changes, yearning for a time when life moved at a slower pace and people made time to enjoy their surroundings and build communities.

In every place he visits, he finds that people are always in a rush, driving quickly, moving away from their hometowns in search of better opportunities, and eating bland convenience foods. During his travels, he finds that his country’s landscape and culture have changed even more than he expected: The huge technological and industrial advancements of the post-World War II era turned formerly small towns into bustling cities, and the growing interstate highway system bypasses the rural landscapes he loves. He embarks on the trip as an attempt to delay this inevitability and to reconnect with his country as a whole after years of skipping over the American interior in favor of living in coastal areas and traveling abroad. Steinbeck wrote Travels With Charley at a transitional period in his life his career as an author was winding down, and he felt the rapid advance of old age.

John steinbeck charley