A group of California alcoholics, whores, and idlers form bonds of affection among themselves and with a biologist in post-World War II Monterey. Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as is--both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Creating characters based on his memories of real inhabitants of Monterey, California, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Henri, Mack, and the boys in a world where only the fittest survive.