[Quixote]

I was on a tour in the small West African country of Togo, and during a quiet moment on the motor coach, I asked Isaac, the tour guide, what he did most of his time, since there is very minimal tourism in Togo. His response?

"I'm preparing the defense of my dissertation on the issue of social injustice in the writings of John Steinbeck."

I responded that when I was in graduate school, I had written a paper on this very subject, with a focus on The Grapes of Wrath. With most other guests napping after a long day of touring, Isaac and I shared our views on a book of such significant universality (the primary reason I choose this book) with a focus on Ma Joad, who held the family together through the worst of the Great Depression. We exchanged email addresses and keep in touch.

Subsequently, I found a first edition/first printing of The Grapes of Wrath (1939) at a local library fair in excellent condition, dust jacket in poor condition, with all hard covered books 25 cents. It cost $24 to mail it to Isaac.

And Isaac earned his doctorate on April 11, 2019!