'THIS IS A GOD DAMNED LIE': STEINBECK INSCRIBES THE WRATH OF JOHN STEINBECK. BENNETT, ROBERT and...

'THIS IS A GOD DAMNED LIE': STEINBECK INSCRIBES THE WRATH OF JOHN STEINBECK. BENNETT, ROBERT and ARTEMIS, illustrator. The Wrath of John Steinbeck or St. John Goes to Church. Los Angeles: The Albertson Press in association with Bunster Creely, 1939. 8vo. Publisher's red paper-covered boards, gilt label printed in black to upper cover. Very light toning to endpapers, tipped in illustration loose but present, adhesive stains to frontis. leaf, minor rubbing and wear to head and tail of spine. Provenance: The Mary Dekker Steinbeck Family collection. LIMITED EDITION, number 78 of 1000, signed by the author, ADDITIONALLY SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY JOHN STEINBECK: 'This is a god damned lie / John Steinbeck.' Bennett's chapbook, released after the phenomenal success of The Grapes of Wrath, tells the story of meeting a young John Steinbeck years earlier, having a brief discussion about the nature of socialism in a capitalist society, and attending a church service in which Steinbeck heckled the preacher (foreshadowing the contempt for that profession dramatized in his epic novel). Steinbeck's response to Bennett's essay is noted above. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing