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Powell's Q&A, Q&A | June 24, 2009

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  1. $17.50 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

An intimate portrait of two men who cherish the slim bond between them and the dream they share in a world marred by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lenny dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own — a couple of acres and a few pigs, chickens, and rabbits back in Hill Country where land is cheap. But after they come to work on a ranch in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, their hopes, like "the best laid schemes o?mice an? men," begin to go awry.

Of Mice and Men also represents an experiment in form, as Steinbeck described his work, "a kind of playable novel, written in novel form but so scened and set that it can be played as it stands." A rarity in American letters, it achieved remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films. Steinbeck?s tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss remains one of America?s most widely read and beloved novels.

Review:

"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

Review:

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

Review:

"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]

About the Author

No writer is more quintessentially American than John Steinbeck. Born in 1902 in Salinas, California, Steinbeck attended Stanford University before working at a series of mostly blue-collar jobs and embarking on his literary career. Profoundly committed to social progress, he used his writing to raise issues of labor exploitation and the plight of the common man, penning some of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century and winning such prestigious awards as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He received the Nobel Prize in 1962, "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception." Today, more than thirty years after his death, he remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 7 comments:
DJ Heino, April 17, 2009 (view all comments by DJ Heino)
One word CLASSIC. I have the copy when the book first came out, before this one, and I love it! John Steinbeck is an amazing author because of his liteture. Many books I read for entertainment, its like a tv that makes you smarter, but this is the first book I read for liteture purposes. If your a Steinbeck fan this is another great book!
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(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
jlop500, January 8, 2009 (view all comments by jlop500)
This is a great book!!
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(2 of 13 readers found this comment helpful)
crowyhead, March 1, 2008 (view all comments by crowyhead)
I didn't enjoy this NEARLY as much as I loved Cannery Row, but it was a lot better than I remember it being when I had to read it in highschool. The way Steinbeck gives you a sense of a character in just a few lines is really amazing, and the whole story is very biting and succinct. It's really hard to get over the sense of disaster looming over the book, though; once you've read a page, you know how the story is going to end (even if you haven't read it before), and this kind of gives the book the quality of a really well-crafted car wreck.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780142000670
Author:
Steinbeck, John
Publisher:
Penguin Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Cowboys
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Ranch life
Subject:
Western stories
Subject:
Male friendship
Subject:
Salinas River Valley
Subject:
People with mental disabilities
Subject:
Literary
Edition Description:
John Steinbeck centennial ed.
Series Volume:
RP-599
Publication Date:
January 2002
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
103
Dimensions:
8.42x5.66x.37 in. .32 lbs.

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