John Steinbeck’s classic The Grapes of Wrath might be a bona fide Great American ... to another as they patch up this beleaguered truck. "A human being couldn’t stand to live like they do.” ...

The Grapes of Wrath, published exactly 70 years ago, can be seen as a prophetic novel - rooted in the tragedies of the Great Depression, but speaking directly to the harsh realities of 2009, writes ...