In 1935 Tortilla Flat started it all for John Steinbeck. It wasn’t his first work, but it was his first commercially successful book. At about 200 pages, it’s a light read in the literal, physical sense. It’s also a light read in the figurative sense, with a simple prose style telling simple stories about simple people. Tortilla Flat is more like Cannery Row than it is like The Grapes of Wrath. It is more charming than profound. But simplicity and charm were Steinbeck’s hooks, and within them he hid great story-telling and character development. Steinbeck’s ironic wit and his sense of the beauty to be found in nature and in human relationships permeate the work.

The book is set in the Tortilla Flat area near Monterey, California. It follows a group of friends, paisanos, through a few years of their lives after World War I. All are impoverished and unemployed, most are petty criminals. But their greatest desires are not steady work or financial security or staying out of jail, but rather camaraderie with each other and a gallon of red wine. Or several gallons. Scrounging for food and for items they can barter for wine, the paisanos drink, fight, connive, find love (short-term, of course), and give of themselves to anyone who has less than the nothing they have.

I will admit that, having read four of Steinbeck’s other novels before this one, at times the ‘poor in Monterey’ theme felt a bit tired. If you have read Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row you probably don’t need to read Tortilla Flat. Unless, of course, those books left you wanting more, in which case by all means pick it up. If you’ve not read Cannery Row or Of Mice and Men, read Tortilla Flat first because Steinbeck wrote it first. It’s an enjoyable read and a welcome break from the ordinary.