Tortilla FlatAdopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, John Steinbeck created a “Camelot” on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey, California, and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur’s castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging—men who fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil and civil rectitude. As Nobel Prize winner Steinbeck chronicles their deeds—their multiple lovers, their wonderful brawls, their Rabelaisian wine-drinking—he spins a tale as compelling and ultimately as touched by sorrow as the famous legends of the Round Table, which inspired him. |
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Big Joe Portagee Cannery Cannery Row capitán caporál Charlie Guzman Charlie Meeler chicken house Chin Kee Cornelia Ruiz corporal Covici cutting squids Danny began Danny cried Danny looked Danny's friends Danny's house dark escape from worrying eyes friends looked friends nodded front porch gallon of wine Galvez generál Gracie gulch hands heard heart jail jailer jar of wine Johnny Pom-pom kill knew lady live mackerel Mexican Monterey morning Pablo and Jesus Pacific Grove paper party for Danny Pastures of Heaven Petey Pilon continued Pilon cried Pilon looked pine Pirate's dogs pistol policeman rocks Salinas sea gulls Sea of Cortez shovel sick sleeping smiled snarled Spanish squid yard Steinbeck stole stood story stove stroke sugar cookie Sweets tell thee thine thing thou thy friend Tito Ralph told Tonia took vacuum-cleaner waited walked watched wife wires woods