Cannery Row: John Steinbeck (Penguin Modern Classics)

Despite the total lack of plot, I have to say i really enjoyed this book. Having previously only read steinbeck in literature class, I was pleasently surprised by how easy it is to read. It's not a book that strives to make a Big Point about anything, except perhaps that vagrants are noble and all women are either shrieking harpies or prostitutes (two of Steinbeck's favourite themes, I gather) and I think it's probably better for that. It clips along nicely as an ambling story about a group of philosophical bums who decide to throw the saintly Doc a party, with the expected consequences. It has a great sense of place and community that really makes it work somehow. A nice, easy 1-day read. A bit insubstantial, but that really is one of it's strengths.