Few novels have ever come to symbolize an entire era. And the most impressive of these is the most discussed American book of the 20th century. Since its first publication in 1939, it has sold hundreds of millions of copies and has been translated and re-translated into most languages.

The era is the 1930s, the Great Depression, the archetypal economic crisis that was etched with horror into the collective imagination. And the writer who described and explained it so powerfully and so clearly, that his work will forever remain in history, is John Steinbeck, with "The Grapes of Wrath."

"The Grapes of Wrath" is an ode to humanity and humanness, to the strength of family, to the struggle for survival, to the small acts of kindness of people. Through the story of the Joad family, who are uprooted from their land and migrate, a truth is proclaimed: and this truth, conveyed with a literary immediacy that captivates, is absolute and as urgent today as when it was first written.

Perhaps more than any other book, this one proves that great literature does not need to be an enigmatic riddle, but can resonate the soul of every person with shockingly familiar words and images.