Dec8

‘the covers of this book are too far apart.’ – ambrose bierce

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1936, John Steinbeck’s dog Toby, an Irish Setter, turned the first draft of Of Mice and Men into a snack. In a letter dated May 27 of that year, the future Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner wrote that he “was pretty mad, but the poor little fellow may have been acting critically.”

Steinbeck estimated that Toby making “confetti” of the manuscript would set him back by about two months, but it may have been worth it: Steinbeck’s short, tragic tale of two migrant workers eking out a humble existence in California during the Depression is among the author’s most moving and accomplished works, which is saying something for the man responsible for both East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck, a lifelong dog-lover, later wrote a travelogue featuring his poodle called Travels With Charley.

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‘a critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote.’

-mignon mclaughlin

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source credit: interesting facts
image credit: luckylaika, olivia

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65 responses »

  2. Frankie is “yet” to make a meal of any of my manuscripts; I suppose he doesn’t find my poems very tasty. He’s munched on a couple of poems in my waste paper basket, but spat them out! …

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  5. Beth, I love Steinbeck. Love his sensory language. I try to emulate his writing style and how he honors the lives of working class people. He tells their stories like it is. Grapes of Wrath— I couldn’t get enough of this book. Absolutely amazing. I cry every time Steinbeck rocks. Thanks for this post.

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  21. This is the first time I’m hearing this story. As someone whose golden devoured many an inanimate item (including one child’s homework and a journal entry) I have to say a dog that destroys a creative work and is still loved is lucky indeed. 😳

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  26. That is a great story, and the dog was a critic. I think the quote “a critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote” is a great one. I often come across elaborately written but negative book reviews on Amazon for books I love, and I think to myself, we did not read the same book. I often find these reviews wrong and bizarre even though they are well written. People really take their world view, biases, prejudices, and misconceptions with them when reading a book. The result can be anything.

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