Novel
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck · 1937
Synopsis
On a Thursday evening, George and Lennie, two itinerant labourers, camp by the Salinas River, south of Soledad; the next morning they arrive at a ranch in the valley. George is small and quick; Lennie, a slow giant who loves to stroke anything soft, has already had to flee the town of Weed with him. They are saving up to buy a farm of their own, with rabbits; Candy, the old handyman who has lost a hand, asks to join them and puts in his savings. Curley, the boss's son, looks for a fight, and his wife prowls around the bunkhouses.
Context
The novel was rewritten in two months in 1936, after the author's puppy tore up half the manuscript. Steinbeck wanted it to be playable, a novel cut like a play; he adapted it with George S. Kaufman, and the play opened on Broadway in November 1937. Chosen by the Book-of-the-Month Club, the book had sold one hundred and seventeen thousand copies before its publication, in February 1937, by Covici-Friede. Its title comes from a poem by Robert Burns. Lewis Milestone adapted it in 1939. It is among the books that parents or schools have most often sought to have removed.
Who it is for
A very short novel, of some thirty thousand words, intended by its author as a playable novel. Translated by Maurice-Edgar Coindreau in 1939, then by Agnès Desarthe in 2022.
Prizes and reception
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1938 for the stage version, and one of the most widely taught books in American schools.
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