TGW: The Grapes of Wrath

January 2, 2007

Today was a lost day. Procrastination marked every hour; there was no writing, no editing, nothing. I feel like crap at the end of days like this.

I did finish the book, "Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath." These journals were kept by John Steinbeck during his writing of this phenomenal novel. Steinbeck's emotions ran the gamut from severe depression to over-the-top-elation while writing the novel; and his frank thoughts and opinions are expressed freely and fully throughout.

I think that's why I had a shitty day; it's almost as though Steinbeck gave me permission because he had days like this too. He even had days when he held his wriging ability in high suspicion. In one entry he tells how the man who lives next door, who spends most of his time working in his yard could have written this novel. Now, that's everyday man thinking and I love it because it's exactly how I feel about my writing. Of course, he sold TGW and made a fortune off it. It also brought him deep depression afterwards due to the negative impact it had on so many people. It's sad; his life was threatened and many of the Okies he was trying to help through exposure to their plight turned against him as well. I know I had an uncle who was "mad as hell," after watching the movie when it first came out back in the early forties.

I'll write more about TGW later. I have personal connections to that story and the plight of those people.