Famed John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California. His books, including his prize-winning work The Grapes of Wrath written in 1939, often dealt with social and economic issues. Steinbeck was raised modestly, with a house small and close to the heart. His father, John Ernst Steinbeck, tried his hand at several different jobs to keep his family fed: He owned a feed-and-grain store, and served as treasurer of Monterrey County. His mother, Olive Steinbeck, was a former schoolteacher. Steinbeck had 3 sisters, and had a happy, carefree childhood. According to research, Steinbeck decided to become a writer at the age of 14, and wrote many poems and stories. In 1919, Steinbeck enrolled at Stanford University which was a decision that had more to do with making his parents proud than pleasing himself. However, Steinbeck, a future writer, would have no reason to go to college. He dropped out of school for good in 1925.

Steinbeck started as an independent author, and he wrote many novels that didn't receive much praise. Finally, he had success with his novel, Tortilla Flat, which was a comedy novel about living in Monterey. Afterwards, Steinbeck showed his serious streak by publishing Of Mice and Men, In Dubious Battle, and The Long Valley. Many of his books told about the hardships of current times, and showed the struggles from a commoner's point of view. The Grapes of Wrath came shortly afterward, and way considered by many the greatest book ever written by John Steinbeck. That famous book sold about 10,000 copies per week, and in 1940, The Grapes of Wrath won a Pulitzer Prize.

After the huge achievement with The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck was famous! He worked for the New York Herald Tribune during World War II as a war correspondent. While he was working, he also took a trip to Mexico with his colleague, Edward Ricketts, who was a marine biologist. Steinbeck went to Mexico to collect marine life, and it inspired the book, Sea of Cortez. Sea of Cortez tells about Californian gulf life. John Steinbeck kept writing, and produced five books well after retirement. In 1962, Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for his countless classics. Unfortunately, John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968 in his home in New York City from heart disease. He was a legend to all, and a role model to all writers and literature enthusiasts everywhere.

These were John Steinbeck's most famous books which had extreme emotional and historical ties with The Great Depression, and with the crash of the stock market.

Writing is timeless and is so important in our lives, whether we are reading, studying, or even scribbling down a grocery list. However, the hardest part about being a writer is constantly coming up with fresh, new ideas that will have your readers hooked.

I think that John Green is very much like John Steinbeck because they both have multiple bestsellers, and all their books have a certain theme to them. For example, John Steinbeck wrote about The Great Depression, and poor farmers. John Green writes about real world problems such as depression, cancer, and modern issues. His book, The Fault in Our Stars was a bestseller around the entire world, and was made into a film. Similar to Green, Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was an award-winning book famous all over the nation, and became a film. What sews these two authors together is the fact that they were never a "one-hit-wonder" or a "one-trick-pony." John Green and John Steinbeck kept writing best-selling novels, and became more famous than they already were. For example, John Green's claim to fame was The Fault in Our Stars, but afterwards, he wrote Papertowns, Looking for Alaska, and An Abundance of Katherines; all amazing and famed books. John Steinbeck is credited with Of Mice and Men, but also wrote Tortilla Flat, The Grapes of Wrath, and East of Eden; his most well-known books. All writers have a purpose, a style, and a cause, and John Green and John Steinbeck wrote sensational books that are valued and coveted by many around the world.

John Steinbeck was talented, but he was also very skilled in bringing people together. His literature allowed peoples of all kinds to connect and look at the world from different perspectives, from someone else's shoes, through someone else's lenses. He managed to wrap politics in drama and real world problem, and show hidden significances in his work. Many of his award-winning books such as "The Grapes of Wrath", and "Of Mice and Men" are about migrant farmers (many people in The Great Depression were migrant farmers and could relate to these books) trying to make a living in the crumbling economy. As times changed and years passed, while fads came and went, and boldness became normal, John Steinbeck's books became more provocative. His books became more scandalous because people's taste in literature changed as well. He added to society because each of his books were almost like a primary source, full of realistic facts and experiences that happened back in his time. John Steinbeck was a gem of a writer, and he composed literary jewels.