September 30, 1955 from a store. They evade the police and have a party near the Arkansas River, where Jimmy J. grows upset that his friends do not understand the depth of his grief. When Frank asks how Jimmy J. can care so much about someone he has never met, Jimmy J. explains that he has seen "East of Eden" four times, and Billie Jean claims to have seen it 22 times; they were anticipating the release of James Dean's two other films, "Rebel Without a Cause" later that month and "Giant" the following year. Jimmy J. and Billie Jean met seeing "East
East of Eden (novel) East of Eden (novel) East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952. Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel, "East of Eden" brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and John (then 6½ and 4½ years old, respectively). Steinbeck wanted to describe the Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors. The Hamilton family in the novel is said to be based on the real-life family of