Jackson J. Benson's firsthand account of his fifteen-year effort to chronicle the life of John Steinbeck entertainingly interweaves personal anecdote and critical insight.

Jackson J. Benson was professor of Enlgish and comparative literature at San Diego State University until his retirement in 1997. He is the author of twelve books on modern American literature and currently divides his time between Las Mesa, California, and a cabin in the northern Sierra Nevada.