Cannery Row – John Steinbeck

   Simply put, this is a great book, a literary treasure. The very first sentence is sublime: “Cannery Row in Monterey .. is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a nostalgia, a dream”. And later: “The corrugated iron of the cannery glows with the pearly lucence of platinum or old pewter”. And there are the characters and activities: the escapades of Mack and the boys to capture frogs for Doc at the Western Biological Laboratory, Doc’s epic trip to La Jolla to collect octopi, the repair of a Model T truck. Overall, this 1945 novel is both humorous and poignant, a must read. Thanks, Erin, for the impetus to re-read this classic.