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BOOK 125: OF MICE AND MEN: JOHN STEINBECK

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in California, United States.

Based on Steinbeck's own experiences as a bindlestiff in the 1920s (before the arrival of the Okies he would vividly describe in The Grapes of Wrath), the title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

Required reading in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century.

The first film adaptation was in 1939, two years after the publication of the novella, and starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, with Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. It was nominated for four Oscars.

In popular culture:

The Warner Bros. cartoon duo Pinky and the Brain (of Animaniacs fame) are somewhat similar to Lennie and George.

In Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) two of the gremlins are named Lenny and George, after the characters of the book. They both have the same personalities as the characters Lennie and George from the novel, and are often seen together.

In Fever Pitch (1997), Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth) claims that getting a boy to read Of Mice And Men is the pinnacle of his career, and it will only go downhill from then on.

John Leguizamo sings (or raps) "Which way did he go, George; which way did he go?" on his song "Voodoo Mambo", as does Tupac Shakur on "Can't C Me" (Can't See Me).

Katy Perry references the novella in her song "Pearl": This love's too strong like "Mice and Men" / Squeezing out the life that should be let in.

In Stephen King's serial novel The Green Mile (1996), John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan in the 1999 film) is similar to Lennie in that he is large, unintelligent, and innocent at heart. In both stories, mice fall into their care at some point and ultimately, at the time of their deaths, both Lennie and John Coffey were executed in the most compassionate way possible under the circumstances that occur in both novels.

In the season 3 episode of the sitcom Friends titled "The One with a Chick and a Duck" (1997), Joey is playing with a little chicken. Chandler alludes to Of Mice and Men by saying, "Easy, Lennie", to Joey. This was written in the subtitles, "Easy Lenny", by misunderstanding.