I somehow missed reading this collection before now. Some stories are gorgeous and amazing, like "Chrysanthemum" and "The Harness" and "The Red Pony" novella (which I first read as a child and is how I fell in love with Steinbeck), but others don't work at all and are really rough, with poor craft, like "The Snake." It is actually a wonderful thing to see the beginnings of such a great writer, and how he developed his craft. For instance, the woman in "The Snake" seems to have the same seed of character as Cathy in "East of Eden," but Steinbeck just wasn't quite ready to write her yet.