[Utah Girl]

I rarely watch Oprah, but I did belong to an online Oprah bookclub for several years. I unsubscribed when she ended her book club on her show "because there were no more good books out there that I can recommend." Yikes. And now she starts up her book club again, and selects 'East of Eden'!!! Another yikes, heavy reading for those used to wallowing in dysfunctional fiction. After about the first year of her picks, I rarely read the books. There is only so much dysfunction that I can stand to read about.

[Utah Girl]

PS- I have read East of Eden, not one of my favorite books, but it is readable. Good luck.

[gcruse]

Read the good stuff that stands over time.

Read all of Sinclair Lewis.
Read anything by John Barth.
Absorb all of Kafka's short stories.
For dessert, Only Yesterday, by Fredrick Lewis Allen.

[foolscap]

East of Eden is a wonderful book. It tells the story of two families in the Salanis (sp?)valley around the turn of the century. The Hamilton family story is based largely on Stenibeck's own family history on his mother's side. Not everyone in the book is a nut case although they are the characters one tends to remember. The Trask clan is the one with all the problems The evil Katherine Trask charter is based on Steinbeck's second wife. You can tell he did think much of her to say the least. It's a very long book but a really holds your attention. It's much better than both of the movies where the story of the Hamilton family is pretty much left out