Cannery Row Summary
John Steinbeck

Cannery Row Summary

Cannery Row depicts life in a depressed California fishing town, with the story culminating with the owner of a Chinese grocery, ladies in a civic-minded bordello, a household of grown-up delinquents, and assorted other characters coming together to give lonely Doc, owner/operator of a marine research facility, a tremendous birthday party.

Lee Chong owns a general grocery store that extends credit to most of the poor residents of Cannery Row. His neighbor, the flamboyant and caring Dora Flood, runs a curiously named bordello, the Bear Flag Restaurant, which plays a vital role in the community. A middle-aged tough guy, Mack, pressures Lee into renting a building to him and his homeless "boys". They christen it the "Palace Flophouse and Grill". The boys sometimes earn money by collecting specimens for Doc and his Western Biological Laboratories. In the vacant lot central to the grocery, whorehouse, and lab, the Malloys set up... View more of the Cannery Row Summary