Caution: clicking on this link at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will start a loud advertisement, so be warned.
That said, Bill Steigerwald’s expose of John Steinbeck’s deception (and that of his editors, biographers and publishers) regarding his book, Travels with Charley, makes for very interesting reading. For decades we’ve all been led to believe what Steinbeck wrote actually happened, that he lived in his camper car and everything he saw and heard was real. The truth is that Steinbeck’s words are heavily fictionalized, and likely politically biased. Though I like Steinbeck’s fiction, and one time visited the Steinbeck center in Salinas, one can only hope every work of non-fiction gets the same sharp investigation. Wikipedia, by the way, has yet to update its pages regarding the book.
