Cannery Row

By John Steinbeck

In this tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society, Steinbeck focuses on the acceptance of life as it is—both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of friends in Monterey, California, he interweaves the stories of Lee, Doc, and Mack, the inhabitants of Cannery Row. What results is a procession of linked vignettes and a novel that is at once Steinbeck’s most humorous and poignant works, filled with human warmth, camaraderie, and love.


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• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9780735254312

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck (Salinas, 1902 - Nueva York, 1968). Narrador y dramaturgo estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Stanford, pero desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar duramente como albañil, jornalero rural, agrimensor o empleado de tienda. En la década de 1930 describió la pobreza que acompañó a la Depresión económica y tuvo su primer reconocimiento crítico con la novela Tortilla Flat, en 1935. Sus novelas se sitúan dentro de la corriente naturalista o del realismo social americano. Su estilo, heredero del naturalismo y próximo al periodismo, se sustenta sin embargo en una gran carga de emotividad en los argumentos y en el simbolismo presente en las situaciones y personajes que crea, como ocurre en sus obras mayores: De ratones y hombres (1937), Las uvas de la ira (1939) y Al este del Edén (1952). Obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1962.

Reviews for Cannery Row

[gifford_macshane · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not a novel so much as a series of vignettes involving the denizens of Monterey's Cannery Row. Characters were nicely drawn, writing is exceptional, but I didn't detect too much of a plot.

[chrissie3-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4 starsOne of Steinbeck’s best, but too short! Again Steinbeck draws a picture of a time and place that will remain a vivid portrait. This time it is a derelict area in Monterey, California. Probably the 1920s, although it is not said. There are T-Fords, it is on this I am guessing. Steinbeck was from Salinas, California, so he is writing about what he knows best: a cannery, the sea, its smells pungent, acrid and salt, the octopi and starfish and rattlesnakes and the rats, the sound of the surf, the feel of the air, the quiet at dawn and the heat at the end of a hot summer day. The stickiness and the lilting breeze and the people - who live in a discarded boiler, a rusted tunnel, the lucky in a deserted warehouse. There is a brothel and a Chinese grocery. This book is about these people and it is about friendship and it is about parties. Think back on all the parties you have been at. The ones of your youth. How they start and how they end. The food, the drink, the music and dancing and the whole atmosphere. Reading this book will back to you the parties of your own past. They are made palpable. This book is a tribute to parties, parties with people you love. Narrated by Trevor White.Completed April 22, 2013

[mkboylan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We spent a couple of days in Monterey on the way home from southern California so I found myself once again in one of my favorite spots, but still never having read Steinbeck! So when on Cannery Row, read Cannery Row I decided. It is not listed as one of his best, but I was still in the mood for light reading and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a good combination of light reading (compared to all that Russian stuff, right?) with amazing writing. My taste in writing is developing, which is leading to some problems: how to find light reading that is beautiful writing? Can't seem to get into some of the e.g. mystery series I used previously for relaxing.

[lgcullens · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this many years back, possibly the 50s, and remember very little of the text because I believe my memory was overshadowed by seeing the movie in the 80s. Thus my rating is more a guess at how the book struck me. That I remember reading it is a testament since I remember so little of what I read so long ago.

[pdcread · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cannery Row was the name given to the street in Monterey, California where all the firms that processed the sardines resided. Horns would blare when there was a catch, and the locals would pile in to process the fish. Other residents of that road were the type who were down on their luck, or didn’t particularly want to live in the more salubrious areas of the town. The story centres around Doc; he is a marine scientist at a biological supply company who promises that he can get hold of anything provided you are prepared to wait. Mack and his friends want to throw a party for him, and spend a fair amount of time collecting drinks and other items for the party. Most they source from Lee Chong’s establishment, driving him slightly crazy as they barter for goods. The Doc is off on a sourcing trip so they decide to set it up, ready for when he returns. He is very late returning and when he does step through the door, he finds his place is wrecked.

There are a lot of bad vibes on the street after the party. It takes a fair while for everything to settle back down again. Mack and his friends decide it is time to try again with the party…

This is a great little book about one road in California. It is full of the misfits, bums, whores and drunks that live on the fringes of society. Steinbeck is a great author for getting across the gritter and seedier life and those that have to live there. He is not afraid to not make every character likeable, and the wit and humour add to the constant interaction between the residents deepening the richness of the plot.

Great little book.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second and best of Steinbeck's Monterey novels. The darkest as well. A tale concerning the dead enders and their lives at te edge of the western sea.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a little kaleidoscopic view of Monterey, California in the late thirties/early forties. Filled with word portraits of the various individuals who lived near "Cannery Row." It describes many of those who would be called outcasts in our society, but who have formed their own sort of neighborhood. Doc is the one who is central to the story, his kindness and nonjudgmental affection seem to be the glue that holds it together.This story doesn't really go anywhere, but the ride is beautiful. Steinbeck's use of our language is a joy to read.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Steinbeck's writing is a wonder, he is the master of word usage, turn of a phrase and just downright fantastic writing. Cannery Row, by the time one is done with this novel they have a clear and concise picture of the cannery business, the denizens who make up the populace of the row and even the life and activity in a tide pool. Everything is imbibed with a sense of wonder, humor and a wisdom that is not often enough conveyed in writing. Unbelievable in such a short novel and I am in awe of this man's talent.

[bccjillster · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Doc, Mack & the boys, Lee Chong, Dora. Great parties--outrageous frog hunt and consequences LOLBrilliant; the writing first struck me as the essence of masculinity--not in the flamboyant Hollywood way, but in the rock solid knowledge that this is a man in whose hands you can relax. It was an odd reaction given the subject matter, but it was my first Steinbeck at the time and the feeling was palpable.These people are so real, I'd know them on the street.

[xmaystarx · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book. The writing is superb, the story is funny and entertaining. What else can I say? Steinbeck is a master of the craft and this is just another example of why. There are some story vignettes interspersed throughout that don't belong with the main story but it all flowed nicely. Go read it!

[iambookish-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I would tell you I'm a big fan of Steinbeck, and that one of my favorite books is "Of Mice and Men", but for some reason along the way I've never read "Cannery Row". I realized this when I had the chance to visit Monterey at Thanksgiving and see the now VERY touristy Cannery Row with it's cheesy wax museum and Steinbeck statue.
I've since rectified my lapse and finished this American classic. I love Steinbeck's prose, and his characters. It's making me want to reread everything he's ever written and take another trip to Northern California to visit the Steinbeck Museum is Salinas!

[jennyo_587543 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read this book today. It's more like a collection of vignettes than a novel, and it was a pure delight to read. If your only exposure to Steinbeck was The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men, do yourself a favor and pick up this book or Travels With Charley. They're much lighter in tone, and Steinbeck's descriptions of places and his dialogue are marvelously done. You can feel just how much he cared about the characters in Cannery Row, how much he needed for them to have dignity and happiness in their lives, even though their situations may not have warranted it.You'd never have gotten me to admit this in high school, but I like Steinbeck. I really do. I have a copy of Sweet Thursday around here somewhere. I'm sure I'll read it soon.

[dandelionroots · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love his portraits. Tells of life amidst hardship, so life, on a street lined with sardine canneries in Monterey, CA during the Great Depression from the interesting and illuminating perspectives of, among numerous others, a: madame, quasi-doctor, Chinese grocer, lady who tea parties with cats, gopher, and layabouts."Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream."

[brokentune · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I watched the film version of On the Road the other night, and while watching it I couldn’t help but compare Sal Paradise, Dean Moriarity and their fellow beats to the inhabitants of Cannery Row, more specifically Mack and the boys from the Palace Flophouse.

That is, there aren’t that many similarities but it struck me that both books deal with the stories of characters who have an innate longing for freedom, individuality and a break away from conventional society. Both are written with a pinch of nostalgia for road trips.

So, thinking about this for a couple of days I made the following observations:

The inhabitants of Cannery are pretty nice people. They just want to mind their own business and get on with their day. They might not all subscribe to the same interpretation of morality, but they all seem to be pretty decent people – if anyone is taken advantage of this is with their knowledge and consent and generally in the genuine spirit of everyone having a right to be a chancer.
The whole point of the story of Cannery Row is for Mack and the boys to do something nice for Doc – and even when not everything goes as planned everyone still displays a sense of good will.

By contrast, Sal and Dean in On the Road lack the concern for others and instead are mostly concerned with pursuing their own pleasure seeking interests. Many of which invariably seem to result in sponging off other people – be it Sal’s aunt, their friends, wives, girlfriends, whoever.

I first read and adored On the Road in my teens , when the ideas of road trips seems pretty cool and the defying defined roles seemed something to aspire to. I would not say that picking up Steinbeck’s novels in the years since that first reading On the Road changed that perception completely. I still love road trips! However, I’d much rather hang out or collect frogs with the inhabitants of Cannery Row. And let’s face it, their parties sound much more fun than the ones Sal and Dean end up in.

[avidmom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"How can the .... dream {Cannery Row} be set down alive? When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for they break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and then lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book - to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves." (page 3)Just as the place, Cannery Row, is unique, so is John Steinbeck's book of the same name. Cannery Row is simply a collection of little stories about the larger than life characters who take up residence on the Row. Each one of them is flawed in some way; all of them are funny and lovable. We begin our tour of the Row at Lee Chong's grocery store, "a miracle of supply" where a "man could find everything he needed or wanted to be happy." (page 4) What Lee Chong doesn't supply is supplied by Dora and her "girls" at the Bear Flag Restaurant. We then are slowly introduced to the cast of characters on the Row through little stories about each one of them. Quite a list of characters make cameo appearances on the Row. Amongst them are a lady who throws parties for the neighborhood cats, a mysterious Chinese man who makes a daily trek to the Row - who knows why - and Henri the painter who "had so steeped himself in stories of the Left Bank in Paris that he lived there although he had never been there." (page 134) Our attention, however, is mostly directed toward Mack and the boys and Doc.Mack is the leader of a ragtag group of hobos ("the boys") who live in the "Palace Flophouse" together and Doc, their neighbor, a marine biologist living and working on the Row. Doc is the heart of the story and the heart of Cannery Row itself - although he doesn't seem to suspect that. Doc, despite being a nice guy who actually has quite a few friends, is a "set-apart man" who "seemed always alone" even in a crowd (page 100). Mack decides early on in the book that they should throw a surprise party for Doc because Doc's simply a nice guy. But before the party can come to be, Mack and the boys need to come up with some $$$. This leads to some funny complications for Mack and the boys, a group of unsuspecting frogs, Lee Chong, and poor Doc himself.Steinbeck's excellent writing and wry wit is what makes this book a wonderful read. Here you'll find wonderful similes like: "Cats drip over the fences and slither like syrup over the ground to look for fish heads (page 85)". Here's Steinbeck writing about the dawn: "It is the hour of the pearl - the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself." (page 86) But what makes this book one of my all time favorites that I have read probably 3 or 4 times by now, is Steinbeck's witticisms that are scattered throughout the book: "Hazel (one of Mack's boys) grew up - did four years in grammar school, four years in reform school, and didn't learn anything in either place. Reform schools are supposed to teach viciousness and criminality but Hazel didn't pay enough attention. He came out of reform school as innocent of viciousness as he was of fractions and long division." (page 32)Cannery Row is a slow paced little book full of wonderful characters, incredible writing and humor. IMO, always worth the trip!

[crazymamie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

John Steinbeck writes poetry that masquerades as prose. His beautiful progression of imagery and vividly drawn characterizations make this collection of vignettes a delightful read, which is good because there isn't much of a plot. In this short novel, written in 1945, Steinbeck establishes the setting of the story, not just the physical place but also the place in time, as the main character. He paints this setting so vividly:"Early morning is a time of magic in Cannery Row. In the gray time after the light has come and before the sun has risen, the Row seems to hang suspended out of time in silvery light....The street is silent of progress and business. And the rush and drag of the waves can be heard as they splash in among the piles of the canneries. It is a time of great peace, a deserted time, a little era of rest. Cats drip over the fences and slither like syrup over the ground to look for fish heads....It is the hour of the pearl - the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself."The remaining cast of characters are just as interesting. What little plot there is centers around Doc, the marine biologist whose heart is as big as his mind: "He can kill anything for need but he could not even hurt a feeling for pleasure." Unfortunately for Doc, this inspires a small group of local men to plan a surprise party for him. What results is a story worthy of a lazy summer afternoon. The characters are flawed but likable. The pace meanders; this is a journey through a series of sketches that are linked by a common denominator, not a fast paced adventure. But it's beautifully written, and I know that I will pick it up off my shelf and read it again. I am giving it 4 1/2 stars.

[e5j · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I fell in love with this book and these people. I loved it so much I wanted to whip back to the first page and start all over again.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Memorable characters in a series of vignettes set along Cannery Row in Monterey, California. There are lots of frogs in this which made me wonder if these creatures had ever encountered Mark Twain's "celebrated jumping frog." There were a few too many snakes for me! Steinbeck has a gift for language that makes one feel they have really been to Cannery Row and encountered these wonderfully drawn characters.

[edith1_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful book, with vivid, subtly humorous descriptions of people, places, and things. Recommended for short commutes, where you can only read a few pages at a time.

[detailmuse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How can the poem and the stink and the grating noise -- the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream -- be set down alive? When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for they break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and then lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book -- to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves.Steinbeck does just that in this collage of vignettes about down-and-outs living near the sardine canneries of Depression-era Monterey, California. The broad story is of a group of people who want to show appreciation to their friend, Doc, a sort of marine biologist and all-around good guy. It’s beautifully written, evocative of men and place and -- who knew! -- Steinbeck can write fun. And it’s all the more meaningful to learn that Doc is based on a friend of Steinbeck, to whom the book is dedicated and in what grows to feel like a meta-appreciation from author to friend.

[ericj4dixon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Before I read this, I did not believe Steinbeck could write with so much humor. A very enjoyable and quick read.

[rburdock_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cannery Row is the third Steinbeck novel I’ve read in succession, and for me it stands out as the finest; quite simply I’ve never been more captivated by a fictional place, or its characters, than I have been whilst reading this novel.Cannery Row centres on life upon a small strip of largely dilapidated land situated next to a sardine cannery in Monterey Bay. It’s the 1930s, the time of the Great Depression, and the story follows the daily interactions between the mainly down-trodden residents. These residents (all of whom symbolically represent various class structures in society) are primarily comprised of: Lee Chong, the Chinese grocer, Mac and 'the boys' who reside in a ‘refurbished’ storage hut loving christened the Palace Flop-house, Doc who runs the marine laboratory, and Dora, the owner of the Bear Flag restaurant, which in actuality is a house of ill-repute.Given Mr. Steinbeck’s incredible talent for creating remarkable characters, and settings (something which I’ve discovered in ALL of the his books that I’ve read), I’m not surprised I’m so enamoured with Cannery Row, there’s just something so magical about each and every one of them. This is the first novel I’ve finished where the characters, and the place, have carried on living in my head; out of nowhere I suddenly begin wondering how Doc’s getting on in his laboratory, or whether Mac and the boys have managed to get up on their luck, if Mr. Chong is still in his sentinel position in his shop, behind the cigar counter, or if Dora’s place is busy or not.I have to say though, that I found no real story behind Cannery Row. As I found with other Steinbeck novels, the onus of the story is all about the characters and how they interact with one another, rather than any hugely engaging plot. The lack of plot should not put anyone off reading Cannery Row though. What story there is, is perfectly constructed to both engage the reader, and to provide the ‘props’ and setting for a level of sublime character interaction. In that respect, the story can be viewed as a work of absolute genius, and in my mind it is. Another thing that Cannery Row demonstrated beautifully to me, is how talented Mr. Steinbeck is at making something stunning out of the ordinary, especially when describing surrounding scenery. His description of an empty weed-covered lot, makes it sound as though he describing the Garden of Eden, and of particular magnificence is his description of what he calls ‘pearl time’, the time of day when night ends but the sun has not yet begun rising. It is during this ‘magical time’ that ‘weeds are a brilliant green’, ‘the corrugated iron of the canneries glows with the pearly lucence’ and the cats ‘drip over the fences and slither like syrup over the ground’. Magnificent!!I think you know by now then, that I LOVE Cannery Row and as such I wholeheartedly encourage you to read it, if you haven’t done so already. I’ve mentioned that the place and the characters have gone on ‘living in my head’, and if that isn’t testament to the power of this novel, then I don’t know what is.

[catheolson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is probably the 4th or 5th time I've read book, but the escapades of these quirky characters just makes me smile every time.

[borg6mx5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Steinbeck is simply one of my favorite authors, His handling of characters is wonderful and his style allows you to lose yourself in his settings and scenes. This story is a fine example. Full of California characters. The state still is full of characters.

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Without a doubt one of the best novels I've ever read, plot is almost no existent, the enjoyment of wonderful characters, weaving through each others lives. I liked it even more then Of Mice and Men which I also loved. I'm going to read a lot more Steinbeck this year.

[scottcholstad · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not my favorite book and not even my favorite Steinbeck, but nonetheless an important American classic that paints a vivid uniquely American feel for the era it represents. Recommended.

[michplunkett · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Favorite excerpts:
- "It's inhabitants are, as the man once said, "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches," by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said "Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing."
- "For there are two possible reactions to social ostracism -- either a man emerges determined to be better, purer, and kindlier or he goes bad, challenges the world and does even worse things. This last is by far the commonest reaction to stigma."
- "Look at them. There are your true philosophers. I think... that Mack and the boys know everything that has ever happened in the world and possibly everything that ever will happen. I think they survive in this particular world better than other people. In a time when people tear themselves to pieces with ambition and nervousness and covetousness, they are relaxed. All of our so-called successful men are sick men, with bad stomachs, and bad souls, but Mack and the boys are healthy and curiously clean. They can do what they want. They can satisfy their appetites without calling them something else."

This book didn't have one big unifying emotion, or feeling, like I felt with the other Steinbeck novels that I've read. It was a mixture of the tales of people within Cannery Row and then a lot of things that just tend to happen in everyone's mundane, normal life. It was refreshing in that aspect, and very much so in the way that it wasn't trying too hard to make this city anymore complicated than any 'normal' city.

With all those positive things being said it wasn't the best at keeping the reader glued to the pages. There were sections that were particularly gripping (the frog wrangling, the parties, the stories about the dog, etc.), but for a lot of the book I felt like I was just trying to power through to the next meaningful section.

All-in-all, parts of the book were really enjoyable, but as a whole it wasn't his best work. With it being a Steinbeck book, I think it's fair to say that if this book written by any other author it would have received a higher rating, but I have a high bar set for Steinbeck's writings because I know he was just THAT good.

[smiler69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For roughly the first half of the novel, I was just trying to get my bearings and get a feel for the lay of the land. I knew ahead of time I shouldn't look for a story; it’s more akin to a love poem to Monterey and the down-in-the-dumps Cannery Row, where whores, bums, shopkeepers and one marine biologist eke out a living. The living conditions Steinbeck describes here are difficult at best, but the emphasis is on observing details, as one would simply record facts, or like a camera taking snapshots without any bias. Perhaps the lack or a real plot contributes to making this world and it's inhabitants seem so real—real life doesn't follow storylines either, after all. A few characters stand out, especially Doc, the aforementioned marine biologist, who is universally loved by all the local residents, and I couldn't help but wonder how much Steinbeck put of himself in this character who has wonderful discerning tastes in music and books, if not the people he counts among his friends. It’s a short novel that is almost impossible to describe, but must be experienced at least once. I'll definitely read it again, if only to fully take in Steinbeck's gorgeous prose.

[lydia1879 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book many years ago but I still remember it quite vividly.

I think I'm sentimental about it in a way that a lot of people wouldn't be - I've been to Monterrey and Carmel and a whole bunch of other places mentioned in the book, and while it's set in a completely different time to when I visited it, it made me nostalgic.

I love that Steinbeck can write such a beautiful book in so few pages. He focuses a lot on character rather than plot, and I love that too. This book is full of melancholy hopefuls chasing the elusive American dream.

This book is beautiful, and a classic Steinbeck novel. This was the first book I read by him, and it started a love affair that I think will last a while~.

[beelzebubba_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My faith in Steinbeck is restored! My previous incursion into the world of Steinbeck, “Tortilla Flat,” left me completely and utterly disappointed. Tried as I might, I could not get into it, and ended up abandoning it, which is something I usually don’t do.But “Cannery Row” totally blew me away! It is now on the list of my all-time favorite books (a rather exclusive club, I can assure you). I can’t begin to state all the reasons I loved it, but I will jot down a few:•Characters: it has some of the most endearing, fascinating and memorable characters of any book I’ve ever read. And he doesn’t fill in all the blanks; he leaves that up to the reader, which makes it all the more powerful.•Details: he goes into great detail about such things as the marine life. His descriptions of the various denizens of the deep that Doc is always after are so spot-on, you immediately wonder to yourself about how much research he must’ve done to write this book. This is not usually a good thing, since you want your methods hidden. But here it doesn’t matter, as it is so well done and only adds to the enjoyment of the book.•Plot: there really isn’t one, which is how I like it. I’m not overly impressed with plotlines. I much prefer interesting characters and a slice of life, a brief glance into another world. And this is exactly what Steinbeck gives here. Oh, things happen, of course. But you don’t feel you’re being carried in a particular direction to some ultimate ending.•Humor: there are many scenes where I had to laugh out loud. The two “frog” scenes come to mind, as well as the ongoing philosophical treatises on the “wining jug.” Steinbeck has a deft touch when it comes to bringing out the humor in a scene that too few writers possess.When a friend of mine found out I was reading this book, she told me it was one of her favorites, and that she had read it several times. I wouldn’t have believed it then, but I am on the same page with her now. I can’t wait until I have time to read it again!