John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts: The Shaping of a Novelist

John Steinbeck?s closest friend was Edward Ricketts, a biologist who lived in Monterey, California. As Professor Astro makes clear; no analysis of Steinbeck?s writing can proceed without a study of the life and ideas of Ricketts, who was Steinbeck?s personal and intellectual companion for 18 years. As Astro points out, Ricketts was the source of characters in six of Steinbeck?s novels and one short story. (Doc of Cannery Row, Preacher Casy in Grapes of Wrath, etc.) Perhaps more importantly, Astro shows many of Steinbeck?s thematic tenets were provided by Ricketts? views and philosophies. To understand Steinbeck, one must understand Ricketts.Astro, Richard is the author of 'John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts: The Shaping of a Novelist', published 2002 under ISBN 9780972197403 and ISBN 0972197400.