The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

This book was okay. It was Steinbeck's last novel published before his death in December of 1968. It tells the tale of a poor grocery clerk from Long Island named Ethan Allen Hawley. He's stricken with a sense of grief and longing for social status, because the Hawleys had been wealthy for generations. It has some interesting and entertaining dialogue, often spanning a couple pages with conversation not terminated by "Ethan said"s or "said Mary"s, so it's up to the reader to keep track of who's saying what. Overall, Ethan is an interesting character to be introduced to, but the plot felt somewhat lacking. I suppose that's true with the other couple Steinbeck books I've read so far, but this one had a little less to grab hold of.

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