Close Reads HQ

Share this post
East of Eden Reading Schedule
closereads.substack.com

East of Eden Reading Schedule

David Kern
Jun 15
27
30
Share this post
East of Eden Reading Schedule
closereads.substack.com

Our next subscriber-exclusive book here at Close Reads HQ is going to be Steinbeck’s East of Eden, one of the great novels in American lit by one of America’s most renowned writers. It’s an essential part of our country’s literary canon and we can’t wait to dig in. Need some convincing? Here are a few reasons this book is worth reading:

  • It features one of the best villains ever created.

  • Steinbeck’s prose is bewitching and un-yielding at the same time.

  • It’s full of Biblical and mythical allusions throughout, but not in that stuffy, academic, pedantic sort of way. They’re alive and inhabited.

  • It captures a version of America long since forgotten, a place and time of great beauty and brutality, that can help us understand our country’s soul in a more profound way.

  • It’s about family: fathers and sons, brothers, lovers.

I could go on. Join us! It will be worth it.

Still need to grab a copy? Here’s the Penguin classics edition and here’s the anniversary edition via our Bookshop.org page.


Reading Schedule

Episode 1: Chapters 1-5
Episode 2: Chapters 6-11
Episode 3: Chapters 12-17
Episode 4: Chapters 18-22
Episode 5: Chapters 23-26
Episode 6: Chapters 27-33
Episode 7: Chapters 34-39
Episode 8: Chapters 40-44
Episode 9: Chapters 45-50
Episode 10: Chapters 51-55
Episode 11: Q&A episode

Update: We will record the first episode on June 16, and it will go up on Monday, 20!


We want to hear from you!

In the comments below, please let us know whether you have read this book before (or whether you’ve read other Steinbeck) and what your general experience with it is/was!

30
Share this post
East of Eden Reading Schedule
closereads.substack.com
30 Comments

Create your profile

0 subscriptions will be displayed on your profile (edit)

Skip for now

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.

founding
Liz Thomas
Jun 30

First read through EoE and I’m hooked! I was pulling for Kristin Lavransdatter and Lonesome Dove, but now I am really glad you chose Steinbeck. :)

Expand full comment
ReplyCollapse
Lee Anne Anderson
Jun 22

I first read it in my 20s, then again in my 40s. Now I’m reading it in my 50s 😀. I grew up in California, so I have read quite a bit of Steinbeck and E of E is by far my favorite.

Expand full comment
ReplyCollapse
28 more comments…
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2022 Goldberry Books L.L.C.
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Publish on Substack Get the app
Substack is the home for great writing