“We are lonesome animals. We spend all life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say—and to feel—

‘Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.’”

— John Steinbeck, letter to Peter Benchley, Sag Harbor, 1956, Steinbeck: A Life in Letters (edited by Elaine Steinbeck and Robert Wallsten)