In three pages this 1961 work chronicling Steinbeck's travels across America with his dog Charley is summarized and discussed. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.
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road trip across America with his pet poodle, Charley. The work is considered one of his most popular and the following year Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for literature. The
book chronicles Steinbeck and Charleys trip in his truck from Maine to California in addition to touching the northern borders of the country and witnessing the southern racial protests in
New Orleans. Sticking mainly to rural roads and towns, Steinbeck comments on the American culture, people and the beauty of the country. John
Steinbecks "Travels with Charley: In Search of America" chronicles Steinbecks 10,000 mile journey across America from Maine to California with his pet poodle, Charles le Chien or Charley. The journey
began on September 23, 1960 from Maine in Steinbecks commission truck which had a cabin built on the back which allowed for him and Charley to sleep, cook and work
(Pearson, 1995; Handschuh, 2003). The vehicle was named "Rocinante" after Don Quixotes horse and Steinbeck named the novel "Travels with Charley" because he and his wife both enjoyed Robert Louis
Stevensons "Travel with a Donkey" (1879). Steinbeck trip ended in January 1961 after which he returned to New York and completed the manuscript for the publication that summer which became
"one of the largest commercial successes of Steinbecks career" and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature the following year (Pearson, 1995).
Steinbeck writes with affection about the detail of the cabin he had built on the truck in which he described that "I had to go alone and I had
to be self-contained, a kind of casual turtle carrying his house on his back" (Weeks, 1962, p. 137; Steinbeck, 1962). As Steinbeck set off in autumn, he, his dog Charley