The Winter of our Discontent (John Steinbeck, 1961)

This was a recommendation from CPG, who has been going through various Steinbeck novels.  I liked it - it's one of Steinbeck's later works, and I think it was rather complicated and interesting.  Definitely worth reading.

I had gotten a bit tired of Steinbeck - found him a bit preachy, negative - but need to re-think that.  East of Eden certainly was a good work.

This book included a taste of Steinbeck's judgmental side - looking askance at American society entering the '60s with a streak of materialism; and Steinbeck does love to find bad behavior in business persons.  I think he, like plenty of others, mistakenly believes in some mythical time when we were free of materialism (whatever that means).  The way I wrote that sentence makes it obvious how I feel - every modern society has its pressures.

And I recognize there are plenty of instances where business persons cut corners - for all sorts of reasons.  But I do not think it's rampant, certainly not in my experience.

Anyway - the protagonist resides in a New England village; has a dual heritage (Pilgrim/pirate); lost the family money and is struggling as a grocery clerk; sees opportunity to improve his financial lot.  But this involves a series of unpleasant decisions involving his employer, his childhood friend, his buddy who works at the bank, etc.  And his high school aged son turns out to be a corner-cutter.

The book is titled after the opening line in Richard III, so that's pretty neat.