Make this your next book club selection and everyone saves.
Get 15% off when you order 5 or more of this title for your book club.
Simply enter the coupon code STEINBECKPEARL at checkout.
This offer applies to only one eBook and one downloadable audio per purchase.
In this short book illuminated by a deep understanding and love of humanity, John Steinbeck retells an old
Mexican folk tale: the story of the great pearl, how it was found, and how it was lost. For the diver Kino, finding a
magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and
suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem
the events leading to the tragedy.
For Steinbeck, Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems.
Originally published in 1947, The Pearl shows why Steinbeck’s style has made him one of the most beloved
American writers: it is a simple story of simple people, recounted with the warmth and sincerity and unrivaled
craftsmanship Steinbeck brings to his writing. It is tragedy in the great tradition, beautifully conveying not despair but
hope for mankind.
The Great Books Foundation Discussion Guide for The Pearl is available at www.greatbooks.org.
“[The Pearl] has the distinction and sincerity that are evident in everything he writes.”—The New Yorker
“Form is the most important thing about him. It is at its best in this work.” —Commonweal
“[Steinbeck has] long trained his prose style for such a task as this: that supple unstrained, muscular power, responsive to the slightest pull of the reins.”—
Chicago Sunday Times
