Of Mice and Men

"Mice and Men" redirects here. For the unrelated 1916 film, see Mice and Men (film). For other uses, see Of Mice and Men (disambiguation).

Of Mice and Men
Book cover illustration of two men walking along a dirt path between grass and a few trees
First edition cover
AuthorJohn Steinbeck
Cover artistRoss MacDonald
LanguageEnglish
GenreTragedy
PublisherCovici Friede
Publication date
1937
Publication placeUnited States
Pages107

Of Mice and Men is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck.[1][2] It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California, searching for jobs during the Great Depression.

Steinbeck based the novella on his own experiences as a teenager working alongside migrant farm workers in the 1910s, before the arrival of the Okies whom he would describe in his novel The Grapes of Wrath. The title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse": "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley" ("The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry").

Although the book is taught in many schools,[3] Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censorship and book bans for vulgarity and for what some consider offensive and racist language. Consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century.[4]

  1. ^ "Of Mice and Men Summary". OxNotes GCSE Revision. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  2. ^ Who, what, why: Why do children study Of Mice and Men? on BBC
  3. ^ Stephen Maunder (March 25, 2011). "Who, what, why: Why do children study Of Mice and Men?". BBC News. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  4. ^ "American Library Association Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000–2009". web page. American Library Association. 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.