About the book: 2023 / Good-natured humor and biting satire. Drama and melodrama. Gothic, a parody of the Gothic, and even a sad fairy tale for adults - there seems to be no end to the genre variety of stories collected under the cover of "Pastures of Paradise". This book by Steinbeck, first published in 1932, can, in essence, be considered a novel only very much and very conventionally - in fact, we have before us a conceptual collection of stories united by the setting - a quiet farming valley in the Californian province - and the fate of the “stranger” Bert Monroe who moved there, who was not afraid to buy the land that all the inhabitants of the valley consider “cursed” .Years go by. Life in the valley goes on as usual. And the local residents are still waiting and waiting, with hidden burning interest - will the curse come true?.. The publishing layout of the book is saved in a4.pdf format.