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===New York=== Over the course of 276 days in 1952, Steinbeck wrote the first draft of ''[[East of Eden (novel)|East of Eden]],'' a book he considered his ultimate test as a writer. He wrote a daily letter to his editor while writing the book. Through them, Steinbeck explored himself, his creative process, his love for writing, and his family life, for he had just married his third wife, Elaine Scott, the year prior. Steinbeck, according to Elaine Scott, considered ''East of Eden'' his ''magnum opus'', his greatest novel. As the book was released, he wrote to John Beskow, a Swedish artist and a confidant of his: "I have put all the things I have wanted to write all my life. This is 'the book'... having done this, I can do anything I want".<ref name="Benson" /> Also in 1952, John Steinbeck appeared as the on-screen narrator of [[20th Century Fox]]'s film, ''[[O. Henry's Full House]]''. Although Steinbeck later admitted he was uncomfortable before the camera, he provided interesting introductions to several filmed adaptations of short stories by the legendary writer [[O. Henry]]. About the same time, Steinbeck recorded readings of several of his short stories for [[Columbia Records]]; the recordings provide a record of Steinbeck's deep, resonant voice. Following the success of ''[[Viva Zapata!|Viva Zapata]]!'', Steinbeck collaborated with Kazan on the 1955 film ''[[East of Eden (film)|East of Eden]]'', [[James Dean]]'s movie debut. [[Jack Moffitt (screenwriter)|Jack Moffitt]] of ''The Hollywood Reporter'', in a review that appeared after the March 1955 premiere, wrote "Beautifully acted, and superbly directed by Elia Kazan, it is bound to be one of the yearβs important contributions to screen literature."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moffitt |first=Jack |date=March 9, 2023 |title='East of Eden': THR's 1955 Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/east-of-eden-movie-james-dean-review-1955-1235346849/ |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US |archive-date=July 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702010300/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/east-of-eden-movie-james-dean-review-1955-1235346849/ |url-status=live }}</ref> From March to October 1959, Steinbeck and his third wife Elaine rented a cottage in the hamlet of Discove, [[Redlynch, Somerset|Redlynch]], near [[Bruton]] in [[Somerset]], England, while Steinbeck researched his retelling of the [[Arthurian legend]] of [[King Arthur]] and the [[Knights of the Round Table]]. [[Glastonbury Tor]] was visible from the cottage, and Steinbeck also visited the nearby [[Hillforts in Britain|hillfort]] of [[Cadbury Castle, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]], the supposed site of King Arthur's court of [[Camelot]]. The unfinished manuscript was published after his death in 1976, as ''[[The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights]]''. Steinbeck grew up enthralled by the stories of King Arthur, and the Steinbecks recounted the time spent in Somerset as the happiest of their life together.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/jul/19/john-steinbeck-somerset |title=Meeting John Steinbeck in Somerset |last=Irvine |first=Lindesay |work=The Guardian |date=July 19, 2011 |access-date=July 3, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brutonmuseum.org.uk/john-steinbeck-1902-68/ |title=John Steinbeck 1902β68 |date=October 16, 2017 |publisher=Bruton Museum |access-date=July 3, 2021 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200654/https://www.brutonmuseum.org.uk/john-steinbeck-1902-68/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[File:TravelswithCharlieVehicle.jpg|thumb|[[Rocinante]], camper truck in which Steinbeck traveled across the United States in 1960]] ''[[Travels with Charley: In Search of America]]'' is a travelogue of his 1960 [[road trip]] with his [[poodle]] Charley. Steinbeck bemoans his lost youth and roots, while dispensing both criticism and praise for the United States. According to Steinbeck's son Thom, Steinbeck made the journey because he knew he was dying and wanted to see the country one last time.<ref>[http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/13/steinbeck-knew-he-was-dying/ Steinbeck knew he was dying] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070927223449/http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/13/steinbeck-knew-he-was-dying/ |date=September 27, 2007 }}," September 13, 2006. Audio interview with Thom Steinbeck</ref> Steinbeck's last novel, ''[[The Winter of Our Discontent]]'' (1961), examines [[moral decline]] in the United States. The protagonist Ethan grows discontented with his own moral decline and that of those around him.<ref name="Student" /> The book has a very different tone from Steinbeck's amoral and ecological stance in earlier works such as ''Tortilla Flat'' and ''Cannery Row''. It was not a critical success. Many reviewers recognized the importance of the novel but were disappointed that it was not another ''Grapes of Wrath''.<ref name="Student">Cynthia Burkhead, ''The students companion to John Steinbeck'', Greenwood Press, 2002, p. 24 {{ISBN|978-0-313-31457-5}}</ref> In the Nobel Prize presentation speech the next year, however, the Swedish Academy cited it most favorably: "Here he attained the same standard which he set in The Grapes of Wrath. Again he holds his position as an independent expounder of the truth with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American, be it good or bad."<ref name=nobel/> Apparently taken aback by the critical reception of this novel, and the critical outcry when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962,<ref name=floodjan2013/> Steinbeck published no more fiction in the remaining six years before his death.
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