As he prepared to set out from his home at the tip of Long Island, Steinbeck noticed in the eyes of his neighbors “a burning desire to go . . . anyplace, away from any Here.” He and his Standard Poodle, Charley, set out in a makeshift camper that Steinbeck named Rocinante, after Don Quixote’s horse. Painter David Slater takes us to Steinbeck’s former home and offers some thoughts in response to Steinbeck’s 50-year-old question about the spirit of America.