Title: Parallel expeditions
First published: 1995
Description: This first study of Darwin's influence on one of America's most popular authors covers the entire range of John Steinbeck's works from Cup of Gold (1929) to America and Americans (1966). Examining both the fiction and non-fiction works from a Darwinian viewpoint, Dr. Railsback demonstrates Steinbeck's careful dramatization of the human as animal - the signature conception of a Nobel Prize-winning author. Parallel Expeditions explores how Darwin and Steinbeck defined what it is to be human.

Dr. Railsback clarifies the most profound current running through Steinbeck's art by providing an analysis that credits the novelist with a thorough, sometimes painful, understanding of the human's place in the ecosystem. Darwin's revolution in science became Steinbeck's revolution in literature. The resulting holistic perspective is still very relevant, even critical, today.
Subjects: Knowledge, Science, Influence, Evolution (Biology) in literature, Literature and science, Social Darwinism in literature, American fiction, English influences, History, Knowledge and learning, Evolution in literature, Biology in literature
Places: United States
People: Charles Darwin (1809-1882), John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Time periods: 20th century
LC classification: PS3537.T3234 Z844 1995