Cannery Row

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

This book takes place in Monterey California during the Great Depression. Cannery Row is a small patch of town where there are fish canneries, a whore house, a lab, a small grocer and a flop house for the vagabonds.
Mack and the boys from the Palace Flophouse want to do something nice for Doc. Doc lives at the lab and collects specimen mostly from the near by ocean, which he sends to other labs to study. Mack is the kind of guy that even when he tries, everything he does flops. He borrows a truck from Lee Chong, the grocer. He and the boys take the truck, which needs fixin', and still promptly breaks down, to catch frogs. They want to sell the frogs to Doc for money, which they will use to throw him a party. Instead of giving the frogs to Doc, the boys trade them for good's at Lee Chong's. The frogs get away. The town finds out about the party and everyone shows up. The party gets out of hand and the lab is left in ruins when Doc shows up from a specimen gathering trip.
Mack knows he is a loser. He know that everything he touches turns to mud. But he still decides he wants to try again to give Doc a party. Everyone from The Row gets involved again........and Doc figures out what is up. Doc hides his valuables and buys food for his own party. The whore house girls make Doc a new blanket. They are so excited for the party that they take shifts at the whore house so that each girl has a turn at the party. Mack and the boys catch a bunch of tom cats to give Doc as a gift.......cats he will be able to sell to labs. Everyone from The Row comes, including strangers and sailors. The party is a success.
The story was very simple and at points I wondered what the point really was. It meanders and there are little points of interest. It's kind of like a slow Sunday drive. I liked the book enough. It was surely not one of my favorite Steinbeck's though.
Rating 3
Rating PG for crude language