Whose Names Are Unknown

English language

Published Feb. 12, 2006 by University of Oklahoma Press.

ISBN:
978-0-8061-3712-4
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Originally written and slated for publication in 1939, this long-forgotten masterpiece was shelved by Random House when The Grapes of Wrath met with wide acclaim. In the belief that Steinbeck already adequately explored the subject matter, Babb's lyrical novel about a farm family's relentless struggle to survive in both Depression-era Oklahoma and in the California migrant labor camps gathered dust for decades.

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What you should read instead of "Grapes of Wrath"

Sanora Babb grew up on one of those midwestern farms that got hit by the dust bowl. She grew up with those people. She was one of those people. She was also probably one of the most remarkable women to ever grace this country. While working in aid camps, she compiled notes of experiences refugees shared with her, and from those notes, and her own childhood experiences, she wrote a book about the experiences of the refugees. She even got a publisher to agree to publish it. But then one of the most famous authors in America publish a remarkably similar book (John Steinbeck, the Grapes of Wrath), and the publisher pulled out of the deal. Who would read a book by an unknown author when a very similar book was already flooding the market?

It turns out that the manager of the camp Sanora Babb was working at, one …

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