“Having too many THINGS, [Americans] spend their hours and money on the couch searching for a soul. A strange species we are. We can stand anything God and Nature throw at us save only plenty. If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick.”
– Steinbeck’s letter to Adlai Stevenson on November 5, 1959, shortly before he set out on his journey
Re-Learning American 