“Poison Cup of Gold”—the October 1, 2020 Wall Street Journal review of William Souder’s new life of John Steinbeck, by Sam Sacks—further escalated pre-publication enthusiasm for Mad at the World, the first full-length life of John Steinbeck since the biography by Jay Parini 25 years ago. Like other reviews of Souder’s book, Sacks’s Wall Street Journal essay heaps praise on its readable style, copious research, and psychological insight into a born writer at war with himself. “Some writers are content to write nothing until they have something they need to say,” says Sacks, who writes with wit in both senses of the term: “Steinbeck was the opposite.” Unlike other large-circulation reviews, Sacks’s extraordinarily perceptive account of Steinbeck’s career and Souder’s treatment draws on the work of literary scholars like Susan Shillinglaw and Jackson Benson. “Mr. Benson’s monumental 1984 biography, written across 15 years and nearing 1,200 pages, hangs over Mr. Souder’s endeavor,” notes Sacks, who also describes Steinbeck as “a world-class listener” and Travels with Charley as “a collection of stories masquerading as fiction.” The entire essay is worth reading, but a sample must suffice:
It’s common enough to read about authors whose lives are at odds with their work, but has there ever been one so profoundly in conflict with his own personality? Steinbeck is one of America’s few bona fide literary celebrities—perhaps only Twain and Hemingway enjoyed more international renown—yet he was horrified by public exposure and detested his fame, taking every opportunity to undermine it. Two clashing impulses provide the tension in Mr. Souder’s book: Steinbeck’s deep-seated distrust of success and the unyielding creative passion that brought his success about.
Sam Sacks is a literary critic and editor in New York. His literary criticism has appeared in Harper’s, London Review of Books, New Republic, Commentary, Weekly Standard, Prospect, Music and Literature, and The New Yorker. He has written the Fiction Chronicle column for the Wall Street Journal since 2010.
Illustration by Greg Newbold courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.
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