The Log from the Sea of Cortez

By: John Steinbeck, Richard Astro - introduction

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

This exciting day-by-day account of Steinbeck's trip to the Gulf of California with biologist Ed Ricketts, drawn from the longer Sea of Cortez, is a wonderful combination of science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure.

Critic reviews

By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

A wonderful journal full of marvelous observations but...

This is a wonderful journal full of marvelous observation. However, there is a great deal of irony that Steinbeck’s peacenik blather about his country’s unenlightened preparations for war would be so short lived....say until Dec. 7, 1941.

Sea of Cortez

I enjoyed this book. The performance is very well done. I learned so much about John Steinbeck and the creatures that live in the sea.

Travels around the Baja and Back.

"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."
- John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez

This book was originally the idea of Steinbeck and his marine biologist/muse Ed Ricketts. They traveled from Monterey, CA down to Baja and collected flora and fauna throughout the Sea of Cortez (see Gulf of California). This is right before WWII started for the US and about 1.5 years before Japan pulled us into it, but the impending war is like a giant submerged whale that follows the Western Flyer down to Mexico and back.

It is told mostly in a first person, plural, supposedly the joint thoughts of Steinbeck and Ricketts, but mostly a narrative constructed by Steinbeck after reviewing his log/diary from the trip. The original book, Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research included the research and accounting of Ed Ricketts of all the items they collected. After Ed Ricketts died, his name was dropped as was the species catalogue. Steinbeck added a Eulogy for his dead friend, but the estate keep Rickett's name from the authorship.

I read this book as I drank Pain Killers and Margaritas in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico while recovering for a week after breaking a femur in May. It seemed an appropriate time to carefully place a toe back in the warm pool of Steinbeck's writing.

Interesting look at Cortez 70 years ago

Notable how drastically marine life has declined since this book was published. I appreciated the candid look at the area and the indigenous inhabitants along the Sea of Cortez. However I found Steinbeck to be somewhat arrogant. Evolution is Science Fiction on an enormous scale. It does not even qualify as a Theory.

The Log From the Sea of Cortez

This is by far my favorite book. I have read this countless times and each time is as good as the last. I would recommend this book to philosophers, sailors, marine biology enthusiasts, and any Steinbeck fan in general. I found myself a different person after encountering this book. 10/10.