While Steinbeck set out to find the "real" America, he often found himself reflecting on the ways it was fading.
Maine, where he famously shared wine with Canadian potato pickers. Crossing the Midwest through Travels with Charley in Search of America
He observed that radio and television were standardizing American speech and culture, making Maine sound just like Montana. While Steinbeck set out to find the "real"
New Orleans, where he witnessed the "Cheerleaders"—a group of mothers protesting school integration—an experience that left him physically and spiritually revolted. Themes of a Changing Nation and environmental destruction. Montana
Everywhere he looked, he saw the growth of fast food, "packaged" living, and environmental destruction.
Montana, describing its people as kind and unaffected by the frantic bustle elsewhere. He visited
The Road Back to Rocinante: Rediscovering Steinbeck’s America