The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — following the Joad family's migration from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California — the most politically effective American novel and the definitive literary account of the Great Depression.

Creates the American migrant worker narrative — The Grapes of Wrath's combination of documentary realism (Steinbeck embedded with migrant workers for research) and Biblical epic structure produced the most politically consequential American novel; it influenced New Deal policy directly and remains the primary literary reference for American economic inequality.