Cannery Row. By John Steinbeck. First Edition, First State. Viking. New York, 1945.

John Steinbeck is a titan of American literature. His career saw dozens of book-length publications, dozens of bestsellers, a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize. Cannery Row is one of his most popular novels. It is a working-class narrative focused on several characters living through the Great Depression in Monterey, California. The work is noted for its fidelity to place–the characters, the sardine canneries, the streets and businesses in the novel are all based on real locations in Monterey. The work is also noted for its treatment of impoverished Americans during the Great Depression. In many ways, Cannery Row embodies Steinbeck’s postwar nostalgia more than any of his other works.

This first edition, first printing is in good condition. In the original first state buff cloth, very good with only soiling to boards, fading to edges and spine, and minor bumping to edges. Text block very good, only soiling to edges. Slightly cocked. Former owner’s sticker and pen to front pastedown. In the original dust jacket, very good with chipping, rubbing, creases, and small closed tears.

A good first state of Cannery Row.