Of Mice and Men

A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression   They are 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 they have formed a family clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation.. 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.. A thriller a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick. —The New York Times