Covici-Friede issued a limited edition of three works: "The Gift," "The Great Mountain," and "The Promise" entitled The Red Pony shortly before going out of business in July 1938.

The other tales take place in several regions of California: "Flight" on the Pacific Coast north of Big Sur, "The Snake" on Cannery Row in Monterey, and "The Murder" in the Corral de Tierra.

Biographer Richard S. Hughes places "Breakfast" in the San Joaquin or Sacramento valleys and "The Raid" and "The Vigilante" occur in unidentified "outlying small towns.".

[20]Literary critic Ralph Thompson]in "Books of the Times" review of September 21, 1938 registers a number of complaints concerning the volume: The callous Mr. Steinbeck, describing a coldblooded shooting ("The Murder") or a fatal manhunt ("Flight"), is impressive but artificial.

[21]Writing in the New Statesman (February 18, 1939) critic John Mair notes a "directness of feeling and expression that is coming to be regarded as distinctively American" in this collection.