John Steinbeck - Flawed Genius | Biographical Documentary

In his writing John Steinbeck was a champion of the downtrodden, the overworked and underpaid and those who were just unlucky - a man of high principles and a fierce critic of men who used their power in heavy-handed ways.

But in his personal life, he was very different – selfish, blunt to the point of rudeness, a hard-drinker with a distinct mean streak.

A complicated and contradictory man who could be incensed by injustice yet be surly, self-obsessed and chillingly inconsiderate with his own family.

In this biographical documentary, Prof Graeme Yorston, explores the multifaceted life of one of America’s greatest writers, John Steinbeck, from his perspective as a psychiatrist.

To get beneath the surface and understand both the motivations for his writing and the drivers of his less praiseworthy behaviour.

Finding Out More

Academic References
Hicks, K. (2012). Steinbeck today. The Steinbeck Review, 9(2), 102-111.

Lynch, A. (2013). Two Views of Stanford's Teaching Legends: Margery Bailey and Edith Mirrielees and Their Effect on John Steinbeck and Irma Hannibal. The Steinbeck Review, 10(1), 63-69.

Wood, M. E. (2016). Experience Beyond Bearing: Steinbeck in the War Psychiatry Archive. American Literature, 88(2), 331-360.

Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
San Jose State University Steinbeck Collection
Internet Archive

Music
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet ROH Orchestra
Blue Mood Robert Munzinger CC0
Isaac Albeniz - Asturias - David Hernando Vitores CC4.0
Isaac Albeniz - Tango Op.165 Nº2 - David Hernando Vitores - Kayoko Morimoto (Wasei Duo) CC4.0
Black Terrier Blues CC0
Gershwin Rialto Ripples Jeffrey Biegel CC0
City Walk John Pattucci CC0
On the Rocks Track Tribe CCO
Francisco Tarrega - Recuerdos de la Alhambra Carlo Alberto Boni CC3.0
Calm Cam Track Tribe CC0
Blue Mood Robert Munzinger CC0
Gridlock John Pattucci CC0
Jane Street Track Tribe CC0
Tacklebox Blues CC0
Claude-Paul Taffanel: Wind Quintet in G minor – Andante. The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet. CC2.0
Claude-Paul Taffanel: Andante Pastoral et Scherzettino. Alex Murray (flute) and Martha Goldstein (piano) CC2.0
Gustav Holst - The Planets, op. 32 - Mars, the bringer of war. Skidmore College Orchestra. Musopen. CC0
Gabriel Faure Flute Fantasie. Alex Murray (flute) and Martha Goldstein (piano)
PeriTune Café Musette CC3.0
John Bartmann - Mellow Cafe Vibe CC1.0
Reed Mathis Moonrise
Ceremonial Fanfare" performed by the Concert Band of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band. Public domain.
Mozart String Quartet No. 15 In C Major "Les Dissonances" K465. Quatuor Mosaïques CC0

Video edited by Manavi Sakunika and produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.

[bobnewmanknott]

I read Steinbeck as a young man and was deeply moved Your insightful reading of him has not lessened my appreciation of his talent but taught me to look below the surface Many thanks, it shows that even in my 80's I can still learn learn .

[izzaduck]

The treatment of Steinbeck's first wife... is monstrous! I almost regret listening to this biography. But we, all, must accept the reality of our 'heros' and their warts; Steinbeck's work still moves me. There must have been a space in his mind that felt compassion... just a pity that he couldn't show it to those who loved him. However, I so glad to have found this channel - thank you!

[uberaustin]

This channel really is amazing. Thanks for your work, Dr. Yorston!

[meteorable]

My hero! I am, 91 yo, copper miningtown, barrio born, Mexican-American. When the book, "The Grapes of Wrath" came out, my dad and uncles read and cherished it. Later, when I was in HS, (1950) I read it for myself and understood why our family loved the book. We were poor and looked down upon, just like the Okies and Arkies. Steinbeck understood poor people and what it means to be rejects of upper society.
Of course, the movie, is superb and memorable in my brain. Steinbeck's novels all reflect his deep understa ding of what it means to love, struggle, survive. God bless his soul!!!❤❤

[joshmichaels]

your psychiatric profiles have really helped me tap into some of my more neurotic characters. you're a great story teller as well as an analyst. Love your work!

[trudigoodman]

This was wonderful. I still love the Steinbeck who believed in the little people that many people don't care about.

[valerieladeda]

Beautiful editing and montages. Memorizing. So well-crafted. Thank you.

[Nebraska]

I greatly enjoyed your video and look forward to watching more on your channel!

[goodgrief]

Wonderful. I grew up in Steinbeck country, and my Dad and his family were migrant farm workers who traveled up and down the California coast picking seasonal crops and living in a tent on the beach. Real Grapes of Wrath type stuff. I only ever heard the good things, so never knew how personally mean Steinbeck could be.

Would you consider doing another California writer from that era? Jack London? Thank you so much.

[kyleethekelt]

Thank you, Professor, for yet another fine presentation. If the reviewers criticised 'Of Mice and Men' I think they may have missed the point. Here is a man with a learning impairment who has been left completely to his own devices without support or guidance — a tragedy waiting to happen. At least, that's my take.
I wonder, have you heard of New Zealand's Janet Frame? We celebrated the 100th anniversary of her birth recently and she had a life which would be ripe for your examination. She was in line for Nobel Prize several times and was compared with Dylan Thomas and James Joyce. I find her writing so amazingly vivid and intense that I am lured into the centre of her world and then need to take a break. A most underrated and under-read writer in my opinion.

[terrydillon]

A few of us met John Steinbeck in an elevator when I was a young women back in the 1950’s, he was such a nice gentleman, smiled and shook our hands.

[fishes-qh]

Thnx Professor Yorston, I've read many Steinbeck books through my life. And many, more than once. I grew up with the smells and sights of California. Just one paragraph of his writing can take me back to my own memories of the 1950s.

[getsmart]

I believe John Steinbeck was certain of why he was born, to write. Being a good husband or father was not something he valued, unfortunately. That doesn’t mean he had a disorder or mental flaw. As his son put it, he was an asshole. Okay…established. He still gave us some very strong story telling for that era, and we can appreciate that fact.

[tomklock]

Thank you. Indeed I have read many of his works and visited his areas of influence in Monterey, Pacific Grove and the museum in Salinas. Yet I didn’t realize the extent of his negativity personally. I appreciate your videos, thank you.

[monicacall]

When I was 14 I suffered a traumatic brain injury that made both standing up or sitting for any length of time a challenge because I would faint. Bored by my limitations, I looked through my dad’s books and discovered “East of Eden”. That book changed my life forever. This is not an exaggeration! Even at such a young age I was able to understand that Steinbeck was exploring the concepts of good and evil. Having grown up with a mom who saw the world of good and evil in terms of deepest black and brightest white with nothing in between. Steinbeck portrays the myriad shades of gray in his characters so beautifully. Adam Trask is a good man but he’s so tentative about really engaging with life and other people, and he refuses to see the people around him as complex human beings. His former wife Cathy is often evil personified, and yet she treats the girls who work at her brothel and the other people who work for her with kindness.

The most important lesson in the book springs from the conversation between Sam Hamilton and Lee Chong when Lee tells Sam that in studying the Old Testament with some elderly Chinese scholars in San Francisco on his days off they have discovered that the Hebrew word “Timshel” as used in the Ten Commandments doesn’t mean “you will” but “you may”. The concept of Timshel allows a person to make whatever decision they are facing for themself rather than being forced by an outside entity to make the decision regardless of that individual’s own beliefs. What a liberating concept! Even at age 14 I understood what this wonderful idea meant in my own life. It gave me the courage to live my life on my own terms rather than to live a life that my mom and other influential people in my life thought I should live. As a result I have very few regrets now that I’m in my 60’s. If I hadn’t read “East of Eden” perhaps I would’ve given in to the adults who thought that they knew what was best for me. Steinbeck himself was a study in contrasts, a man who was incredibly wise and took great pleasure in the beauty of the world and the gaining of knowledge while at the same time he was abusive to his wife and boys and who struggled with alcohol and his own self doubts.

[glenbateman]

Everyone is flawed, including geniuses.
"Anyone who claims to have no flaws has just revealed one."
- A.D. Wallace

[parkerholden]

A supurb picture of one of Americas greatest writer who brought the life of the downtroden in to millions of American home. I grew up in an intense agricultural area of central Washington. Steinbeck captured in perfectly Reading Steinbeck was like reliving my youth.

[Anita-fom]

Thanks for your insightful post about 1of the greatest writer's of the 20th century.

[JaneCarr-tfro]

Thank you very much. I appreciate what you have done. It's enlightening.

[sharonjack]

I find the personal lives of creatives to be quite interesting. Funny thing - I am a creative and EVEN I am fascinated by my own eccentric nature. Often I am a mystery to myself with contradictions here and there. Therefor laughter is HUGE in my world, lest I take myself way too seriously. I LOVE how you study these creatives and go in deep into their world.