Steinbeck on a Chinese cook and the Old Testament

JulieD's recent podcast referred me to a post on The Paragraph Farmer in which he quotes a snippet from Steinbeck's East of Eden which I highly recommend. I've never had any particular urge to read Steinbeck, though I've always heard of him as "someone people read". But whether you like him or not (or don't care) go read the selection on Patrick's blog.