--- product_id: 109916805 title: "The Short Novels of John Steinbeck: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)" price: "€ 41.75" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/109916805-the-short-novels-of-john-steinbeck-penguin-classics-deluxe-edition store_origin: HR region: Croatia --- # The Short Novels of John Steinbeck: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) **Price:** € 41.75 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Short Novels of John Steinbeck: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) - **How much does it cost?** € 41.75 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hr](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/109916805-the-short-novels-of-john-steinbeck-penguin-classics-deluxe-edition) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Steinbeck's brilliant short novels Collected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck's most widely read and beloved novels. From the tale of commitment, loneliness and hope in Of Mice and Men, to the tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society in Cannery Row, to The Pearl's examination of the fallacy of the American dream, Steinbeck stories of realism, that were imbued with energy and resilience. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Review: Stories that take you back... - I absolutely love the romantic story telling of writers from Steinbeck's time, be it Faulkner, or Hemmingway. The book has a great cover and appearance, and I really enjoyed all of his stories. I'll rank the stories from my least to most, personal, favorite: The Pearl, The Moon is Down, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, and Cannery Row. I rated the stories in based on my own emotional reactions for different scenes in each of the short novels. Cannery Row ends pm a mystic note, which the reader should discover and feel for themselves... The Red Pony is a heart wrenching story about a boy's love turned mournful, a promise with a tragic twist, mountains beyond and man with a home lost, and the passing of old glories. Of Mice and Men is, in my understanding, a character observation of the definition of masculinity and people's senses of pride and promised property. Tortilla Flat is also another elaboration on property, more so tying in the bonds between people and a community in the absence of family, and the obligations of people to one another. The Moon is Down seems to me to be one of Steinbeck's more thematically deviating novels: much of the subject matter seems to be, at the surface, about war and the unconquerable nature of community and nation. The Pearl, I liked the least, not saying it was bad, but it was not on the same level as the others. The Pearl was definitely, compared to the other five, the darkest and most brooding; themes about the failure of capitalism and the viciousness and greediness of people in the fortune of others are clear. In aggregate, the collection is AWESOME!!!!!! I had a blast reading them, and Steinbeck really makes you work to extract meaning from his novels. His writing has a pastel quality in all of his descriptions; whether it be an diving town, Monterey, a surrendering village, a farm in the countryside, in my mind's eye his settings are stylized like pieces by Monet. I'm currently working on Grapes of Wrath, and have East of Eden and The Winter of Discontent in my lined up in my queue. Review: Proof that Steinbeck is American gold - With over 1650 reviews already (July 2014), it's hard to know where to being, or if saying anything will be of any consequence. But it seems the beginning of this appreciation has been given to me: most of the reviews seem to be from students or teachers who read one of the six novellas her, and reviewed that one. I have read them all. When I was in high school, I always got booted into advanced English classes, so while everyone else was reading of Mice and Men or The Pearl, I was reading something contemporary and "advanced." So I ended up missing out reading Steinbeck almost entirely (with the exception of Travels with Charlie, which was hot in my sophomore year and considered "cutting edge.") But over time I came to be familiar with most of these tales. There are films of all of them but The Pearl, of Mice and Men is frequently presented theatrically on the stage (and there's a new opera based on it), and I've know the Copland music for The Red Pony since I became a classical music fan in my teens. So I discovered that Penguin put these little gems together in a single volume and resolved to read it cover to cover this summer, in my early 60s. It has been an adventure, discovering how Steinbeck's style became more economical, more compressed over the critical years from 1933 (The Red Pony, when he was 31) until 1947 (The Pearl, when he was 45). He's attracted to strong stories about ordinary people and, from the very beginning, applies an academic craftsman's took kit to issues such as narrative arc and pacing. It's common to shrug him off as an American socialist, campaigning on behalf of the poor during the years of the Great Depression and World War II, but he is (1) not alone among American artists in that regard, and (2) so much more than that. The big surprise, by the way, is The Moon Is Down, an unexpected parable set in Europe early in World War II. I read a plea for sanity into the book, a plea for distance and objectivity in the face of the imperatives inherent in unrelenting evil bent on conquest. In the end, and with an eye on all the desertcart.com reviews focused on one or another of the early novellas, my plea is that any potential reader sit down with the book, open it to the first page, and don't stop reading until the last. It's an amazing experience, one of those "Aha!" moments on why he was famous in the '40s and '50s and why he will be an enduring name in American literature in the future (pacem The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden). ## Features - Highlight, take notes, and search in the book ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #15,133 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #6 in Literary Short Stories #10 in Classic American Fiction #23 in Classic American Literature | ## Images ![The Short Novels of John Steinbeck: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91q5UViSMlL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stories that take you back... *by T***N on August 13, 2018* I absolutely love the romantic story telling of writers from Steinbeck's time, be it Faulkner, or Hemmingway. The book has a great cover and appearance, and I really enjoyed all of his stories. I'll rank the stories from my least to most, personal, favorite: The Pearl, The Moon is Down, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, and Cannery Row. I rated the stories in based on my own emotional reactions for different scenes in each of the short novels. Cannery Row ends pm a mystic note, which the reader should discover and feel for themselves... The Red Pony is a heart wrenching story about a boy's love turned mournful, a promise with a tragic twist, mountains beyond and man with a home lost, and the passing of old glories. Of Mice and Men is, in my understanding, a character observation of the definition of masculinity and people's senses of pride and promised property. Tortilla Flat is also another elaboration on property, more so tying in the bonds between people and a community in the absence of family, and the obligations of people to one another. The Moon is Down seems to me to be one of Steinbeck's more thematically deviating novels: much of the subject matter seems to be, at the surface, about war and the unconquerable nature of community and nation. The Pearl, I liked the least, not saying it was bad, but it was not on the same level as the others. The Pearl was definitely, compared to the other five, the darkest and most brooding; themes about the failure of capitalism and the viciousness and greediness of people in the fortune of others are clear. In aggregate, the collection is AWESOME!!!!!! I had a blast reading them, and Steinbeck really makes you work to extract meaning from his novels. His writing has a pastel quality in all of his descriptions; whether it be an diving town, Monterey, a surrendering village, a farm in the countryside, in my mind's eye his settings are stylized like pieces by Monet. I'm currently working on Grapes of Wrath, and have East of Eden and The Winter of Discontent in my lined up in my queue. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Proof that Steinbeck is American gold *by J***T on July 12, 2014* With over 1650 reviews already (July 2014), it's hard to know where to being, or if saying anything will be of any consequence. But it seems the beginning of this appreciation has been given to me: most of the reviews seem to be from students or teachers who read one of the six novellas her, and reviewed that one. I have read them all. When I was in high school, I always got booted into advanced English classes, so while everyone else was reading of Mice and Men or The Pearl, I was reading something contemporary and "advanced." So I ended up missing out reading Steinbeck almost entirely (with the exception of Travels with Charlie, which was hot in my sophomore year and considered "cutting edge.") But over time I came to be familiar with most of these tales. There are films of all of them but The Pearl, of Mice and Men is frequently presented theatrically on the stage (and there's a new opera based on it), and I've know the Copland music for The Red Pony since I became a classical music fan in my teens. So I discovered that Penguin put these little gems together in a single volume and resolved to read it cover to cover this summer, in my early 60s. It has been an adventure, discovering how Steinbeck's style became more economical, more compressed over the critical years from 1933 (The Red Pony, when he was 31) until 1947 (The Pearl, when he was 45). He's attracted to strong stories about ordinary people and, from the very beginning, applies an academic craftsman's took kit to issues such as narrative arc and pacing. It's common to shrug him off as an American socialist, campaigning on behalf of the poor during the years of the Great Depression and World War II, but he is (1) not alone among American artists in that regard, and (2) so much more than that. The big surprise, by the way, is The Moon Is Down, an unexpected parable set in Europe early in World War II. I read a plea for sanity into the book, a plea for distance and objectivity in the face of the imperatives inherent in unrelenting evil bent on conquest. In the end, and with an eye on all the amazon.com reviews focused on one or another of the early novellas, my plea is that any potential reader sit down with the book, open it to the first page, and don't stop reading until the last. It's an amazing experience, one of those "Aha!" moments on why he was famous in the '40s and '50s and why he will be an enduring name in American literature in the future (pacem The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden). ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful book. They're called deckled edges, by the way. *by -***- on July 24, 2025* This is such a nice collection of short novels by the great John Steinbeck. The main thing I want to address is some of the negative reviews for this based on people being misinformed about the condition of the edges of the pages on this book (and any Penguin deluxe edition classic). The feathered edges of the pages are not a manufacturing flaw; it's called a deckled edge, and it's a deliberate design choice. It's an homage to the way all book used to look back when paper was handmade. It's done to create a "Classic" aesthetic. You have not received a defective product, but merely gotten exactly what you've paid for. It's going to be okay, I promise you. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.hr/products/109916805-the-short-novels-of-john-steinbeck-penguin-classics-deluxe-edition](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/109916805-the-short-novels-of-john-steinbeck-penguin-classics-deluxe-edition) --- *Product available on Desertcart Croatia* *Store origin: HR* *Last updated: 2026-05-25*