John Steinbeck World War II novel - The Moon is Down

Professor of English Donald V. Coers spoke on John Steinbeck’s World War II novel, The Moon is Down on Thursday May 19 at John Jermaine Library in Sag Harbor

Donald V. Coers is the author of John Steinbeck as Propagandist: “The Moon Is Down” Goes to War and After The Grapes of Wrath: Essays on John Steinbeck. 

He discussed  the relevance of this powerful resistance story today. 

Richard Hart, the editor of Steinbeck Review also spoke. 

The Moon is Down tells the story of a military occupation in a small town by an unnamed nation at war with England. A French language translation of the book was published illegally in Nazi-occupied France by a French Resistance publishing house. Numerous other editions were also secretly published across all of occupied Europe, including Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and Italian versions (as well as a Swedish version); it was the best known work of U.S. literature in the Soviet Union during the war. Written with the purpose of motivating resistance movements in occupied countries, the book has appeared in at least 92 editions across the world. 

 

The program is one in the series, Steinbeck In Search of America.

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