Hometown Glory: Nick
Hometown Glory highlights the backgrounds of your favorite booksellers through the literature they love. For this series, we have selected books which represent our histories and remind us of home. These are Nick’s picks.
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Growing up in Northern California John Steinbeck was required reading. Not just The Red Pony or The Pearl like many students read, but the big ones like To a God Unknown. My favorite as a kid was Cannery Row. It was filled with fascinating characters in small town Monterey. Monterey is a beautiful seaside town. As a kid, we would take family trips there. I loved the book because it was filled with a crazy array of characters and the small town drama.
Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
I'd read Cannery Row many times but it wasn't until I took a Steinbeck class at San Francisco State University that I learned that Sweet Thursday was the follow up, taking place in the same town 10 years later with even more hijinxs and drama. Steinbeck drew these characters from his own life, meaning the world of Cannery Row was just as absurd and hilarious as his own. Both of these books remain two of my favorites.
