Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Published in 1945, this is a slice of life picture of the rough and tumble residents of Cannery Row in Monterey, California.  Poverty and unemployment give rise to an unusual set of rules and social mores for everyone from the girls in Dora Flood's bordello and customers at Lee Chong's grocery store.  Each character living on the edges of society is both outrageous, kind and funny.  The book ends with the statement that Doc, a young marine biologist from a different world than his neighbors, "finds true love".  And that would be???  This is Steinbeck being Steinbeck.