The Chrysanthemums Resources

A museum and cultural center, celebrating the life, work, and legacy of Steinbeck. It's fun to visit in person, but if you're not in the mood for a trip, their website has some cool resources.

This organization promotes academic study of Steinbeck and his work, while sponsoring creative writers who follow in his earthy footsteps.

A full text of the story. No bells and whistles.

A twenty-two minute black and white film version of the story. We haven't seen it, so we can't recommend it, but if you're up for spending $95 (yikes!), the film's all yours, from Pyramid Media and Mac & Ava Motion Pictures.

A brief, eleven minute glimpse into the making of the 1990 film.

Want to see a PDF of the original copy of "The Chrysanthemums" in Harper's Magazine? Unfortunately, you'll need a subscription, but if you happen to have one, it's a cool sight to see.

Late in his life, Steinbeck signed on to do an interview with the Paris Review. Unfortunately he died before the interview could be conducted, so in his honor, the interviewers compiled various tidbits Steinbeck had said about writing over the years. Here's the first part of the finished product.

Here's A YouTube version of the documentary on the making of the short film, "The Chrysanthemums," produced by Mac & Ava Motion Pictures.

Or should we say the Nobel committee? Here's a full video of Steinbeck's acceptance speech for the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature.

This two-part interview with Steinbeck's son provides insights to help us understand the man behind the fiction.

Get ready for a seriously dramatic reading of the story. We'll link to part 1, and part 2 is easily accessible once you click.

A classic picture of Steinbeck, relaxing in his office

Take a peek at what the first edition of The Long Valley looked like.

This picture shows a typical view of Salinas Valley, with farms in the foreground, and the hills rising in the background. Pretty, no?

For those of you who've never seen a chrysanthemum before, today's your lucky day.