"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...

Includes a brief biography of John Steinbeck, thematic and structural analysis of the work, critical views, and an index of themes and ideas.

"A biography of writer John Steinbeck that describes his era, his major works--the novels The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men--his life, and the legacy of his writing"--Provided by publisher.