The critical response to John Steinbeck's The grapes of wrath /

This is the first critical collection wholly devoted to the study of Steinbeck's most celebrated novel since this reviewer's Critical Essays on Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (CH, Sep'89). Like that volume, this one attempts to avoid reprinting (for the most part) essays collected in older volumes, and it is satisfying to note that the bulk of its content consists of post-1989 entries, some of which were written for this volume. Thus few familiar warhorses of Steinbeck criticism are in this barn, even if there are passages from books available elsewhere. The past decade has shown an enormous broadening of interest in the novel, ranging from the comparative to the theory based, and Heavilin represents that range amply. True, she includes some lightweight pieces, even among the early reviews included, but she compensates with some brilliant original interpretations that place Steinbeck in an increasingly appropriate postmodernist context. The scholarly apparatuses are up to their tasks--but for the absence of contributor information--and the editor's introduction is far more thorough than the reader might expect and worth reading independent of the anthology. The only real cavil consists of noting production/editorial gaffes, probably the result of blind reliance on technology. A necessary volume for all academic collections. J. M. Ditsky; University of Windsor