This collection of 23 essays is the result of a worldwide effort to assess both the current state of critical understanding of John Steinbeck's works and the extent of his cultural influence as we near the centennial of his birth in 2002. Essays by contributors from the United States, Japan, France, England, Thailand, and India explore the enduring themes of Steinbeck's work. Further, they simultaneously employ recent, increasingly sophisticated literary critical methodologies to create a more subtle and theoretically grounded evaluation than has been previously possible of Steinbeck's many works in multiple genres.