Yep, Steinbeck is a terrific writer. Of Mice And Men is incredible and one of my favourites. Kurt Vonnegut is another favourite author of mine. A little more contempory, but Slaughterhouse 5 is a seminal novel for me. In a nutshell, it focuses on the Dresden bombing in WW2, in which Vonnegut was one of the few remaining survivors of. If you get a chance, check it out. It’s wonderfully written.