Seems to me the 'Grapes of Wrath' was steeped in fundamentalist controversy from day one - it was publicly burned, banned and shops which sold it were set on fire
THIS is the most convincing account I have read of the condditions which gave rise to it
Like, Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle', it had an enormous impact in drawing the public's attention to appalling conditions, though, in the case of the latter, rather than bringing about changes in those conditions, it caused a widespread panic about food hygiene (following the description of a worker falling into a meat-chopping machine and being canned and shipped off to be sold) and brought about massive reforms
My father related with some amusement that 'The Jungle' was the onlr progressive books allowed in the prison library when he was incarcerated during the Spanish Civil War - they thought it was a travel book !
Jim Carroll