From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Pastures of Heaven
The Pastures of Heaven
classic Steinbeck style; the lives of the families that relo-
cate to the valley are portrayed with a mixture of humor
and poignance. A recurring theme in the book is the pain
caused when people try ineptly to help or to please oth-
ers.
In the arts
• In Junius Maltby, one of the characters regards
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with a Donkey in the
Cevennes as one of the single greatest works of
English literature and eventually names his infant
son Robert Louis. Later on, Steinbeck was inspired by
Stevenson in choosing to title his account of his
cross-country voyage with a gray-haired poodle in
the 1960s, Travels With Charley: In Search of America.
Legacy
The grounds of the schoolhouse in which many chapters
are set is still in use by the Washington Union School
District where fourth and fifth grade are taught.
Adaptations
A stage adaptation of The Pastures of Heaven done as a col-
1946 edition laboration between the California Shakespeare Festival
and Word for Word (a company that stages short stories
The Pastures of Heaven is a short story cycle by John literally word for word) premiered in Orinda, CA in June
Steinbeck, first published in 1932, consisting of twelve in- 2010. The script was by Octavio Solis, and it was directed
terconnected stories about a valley in Monterey, Califor- by the Shakespeare Festival’s artistic director Jonathan
nia, which was discovered by a Spanish corporal while Moscone.
chasing runaway Indian slaves. Enchanted by the valley’s
natural beauty, the corporal names it Las Pasturas del Cielo
or "The Pastures of Heaven." The stories are written in
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Categories:
• Short story collections by John Steinbeck
• 1932 short story collections
• History of Monterey County, California
• California in fiction
• Short story collection stubs
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