During the past decade, there has been intense scholarly discussion about precisely how to categorize Travels with Charley. Is it nonfiction? If so, does Steinbeck seem to embellish episodes or, as is is certainly the case, leave out his wife’s presence in parts of the book? Does that mean it’s a fictional account? Autofiction?  In this book discussion, we’ll discuss readers’ responses to Steinbeck’s narrative account of his travels.

About Travels with Charley

In September 1960, John Steinbeck embarked on a cross country road trip with one companion, his French poodle Charley. In the resulting travelogue, 'Travels wtih Charley: In Search of America', Steinbeck describes his encounters with fellow Americans, covering a range of topics such as race relations, effects of technology, the environment, politics, etc. The book is one of Steinbeck’s best-sellers and still inspires people to follow in his footsteps and travel cross-country.