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#2689 of 8,085 books · #1198 in Fiction

Shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction (1953).

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. The masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence.

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Publisher
Penguin
ISBN-13
9781440631320
Genre
Topics
Family rivalry and legacyGood vs. evilIdentity and morality

Awards

Other awarded books from John Steinbeck