Of Mice and Men

Description: A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression

"A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick." --The New York Times

John Steinbeck's classic novella follows an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet together they have formed a family, clinging to each other in the face of loneliness, and alienation, and hardship.

Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.

Review Quotes: "Of Mice and Men is a thriller, a gripping tale running to novelette length that you will not set down until it is finished. It is more than that; but it is that. . . . In sure, raucous, vulgar Americanism, Steinbeck has touched the quick in his little story."--The New York Times

"Brutality and tenderness mingle in these strangely moving pages. . . . The reader is fascinated by a certainty of approaching doom."--Chicago Tribune

"A short tale of much power and beauty. Mr. Steinbeck has contributed a small masterpiece to the modern tough-tender school of American fiction."--Times Literary Supplement [London]