Steinbeck vs. Kerouac

John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

di Frank Jacobs per Big Think

In 1960, feeling he might not be long for this earth, John Steinbeck decided to travel across the length and breadth of America for one last time.

The celebrated writer of East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, andGrapes of Wrath set out from his Long Island home aboard Rocinante, his specially built camper van, and accompanied by his French poodle, Charley. In 1962, he published Travels with Charley: In Search of America.

The end papers of the book, which would turn out to be Steinbeck’s last original work published during his lifetime, were illustrated with this map of America, detailing the itinerary and some of the incidents of Steinbeck’s travels with Charley. Steinbeck, Rocinante and Charley travelled the US in counterclockwise direction, on a roughly 10,000-mile-long trip that saw them passing through New England to the top of Maine, then via Niagara Falls along the Canadian border, hitting Chicago and continuing on to Seattle by way of Fargo before turning south towards the Salinas Valley, backdrop of Steinbeck’s youth. The trio completed their circumambulation via Texas, New Orleans and a huge chunk of the Deep South.

(continua su Big Think)