New York: The Viking Press, 1961. First Edition. 311pp. NEAR FINE. Free of marks or inscriptions; bright unclipped wrapper. Close to being a FINE copy.

Steinveck's last novel, generally credited as securing him the Nobel Prize for Literature. From the wrapper, "This new novel will probably surprise even his [Steinbeck's] warmest admirers. Instead of being set in the Far West, the scene of most of his books, this one takes place on the Northeastern sea board; instead of depicting simple, uneducated people, this deals chiefly with a well-born, well-to-do society with long traditions behind it. But it deals with it in a way that reveals the continuity within Steinbeck's diversity; through the lives of one family and their friends, he has taken that society apart, shown its frightening shams and shortcomings, and measured it against true human decency. The result is a novel in its very dfferent way as powerful as anything he has done, and certain to stand as a major work in the Steinbeck canon".