Martha Nussbaum, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, on the subject “How to write about poverty,” informs us that “During the Depression, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath had a comparable impact [to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle], educating the American public about the plight of migrant workers and producing support for New Deal legislation.” The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939. All of the famous New Deal legislation was passed in FDR’s first term, which ended in 1936. The Grapes of Wrath had no impact on New Deal legislation whatsoever. Being a tenured professor means never having to admit you don’t know what you’re talking about.
