num_pages: 174
description: "Steinbeck is an artist; and he tells the stories of these lovable thieves and adulterers with a gentle and poetic purity of heart and of prose." -- New York Herald TribuneAdopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, Steinbeck created a "Camelot" on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey,California and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur's castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging. These "knights" are paisanos, men of mixed heritage, whose ancestors settled California hundreds of years before. Free of ties to jobs and other complications of the American way of life, they fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil in the surrounding ocean of civil rectitude.As Steinbeck chronicles their deeds--their multiple loves, their wonderful brawls, their Rabelaisian wine-drinking--he spins a tale as compelling and ultimately as touched by sorrow as the famous legends of the Round Table, which inspired him.
language: English
title: Tortilla Flat
titlecomplete: Tortilla Flat
characters: Danny, Pilon, Torelli, Pirate, Jesus Maria Corcoran, Pablo Soler
genres: Fiction, 20th Century, Classics, The United States Of America, Classic Literature, American, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 53868
places: Monterey, California, California
awards: awardedAt: -1104508800000
name: California Book Award
category: Fiction (Silver)
publisher: Penguin Books