The verified answer to “Books and Authors question: With The Grapes of Wrath as the reference work, which book–author pair is correctly matched?” is The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck, option C. The source-backed, question-specific record explains: The Grapes of Wrath is correctly associated with John Steinbeck. The work’s first publication is conventionally dated to 1939, and its original language is English. These three details—title, author, and language—form the decisive bibliographical combination required here. John Steinbeck, a major American literary figure, is also associated with Of Mice and Men; that companion title helps confirm the authorship independently rather than through guesswork. The distractor set (Invisible Man — Arundhati Roy; The God of Small Things — Rabindranath Tagore; Gitanjali — Ralph Ellison) must therefore be tested as complete statements: one true fragment cannot make an entire option correct. A common examination trap is to confuse an author’s nationality with the language of composition, or a translation date with first publication. Another is to treat a well-known adaptation or later edition as the original work. Revision takeaway: remember the compact chain “The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck — English — 1939,” and connect it with Of Mice and Men for stronger recall. This evidence establishes the bibliographic relationship required in this Books and Authors item. A correct solution must preserve the exact title, author, publication context, language, award or comparison requested by the stem. Similar periods, genres or national traditions do not make two book–author pairs interchangeable. Option C gives The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck and satisfies the wording of the question. The remaining choices—Invisible Man — Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things — Rabindranath Tagore and Gitanjali — Ralph Ellison—do not satisfy the complete requirement.