"Steinbeck is an artists; and he tells the stories of these lovable thieves and adulterers with a gentle and poetic purity of heart and of prose." -New York Herald Tribune A Penguin Classic Adopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, John Steinbeck created a "Camelot" on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey, California, and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur's castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging-men who fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil and civil rectitude. As Nobel Prize winner Steinbeck chronicles their deeds-their multiple lovers, their wonderful brawls, their Rabelaisian wine-drinking-he spins a tale as compelling and ultimately as touched