In the din & stink that is Cannery Row a colourful blend of misfits
- gamblers whores drunks bums & artists
- survive side by side in a jumble of adventure & mischief Lee Chong the astute owner of the well-stocked grocery store is also the proprietor of the Palace Flophouse that Mack & his troupe of good-natured &boys& call home Dora runs the Bear Flag Restaurant with clockwork efficiency & a generous heart & Doc secreted away in his home at Western Biological Laboratories is the fount of all wisdom Packed with invention & ramshackle joie de vivre Cannery Row is Steinbeck&s high-spirited tribute to his native California