Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men is a novella written by 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 California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States. Steinbeck based the novella on his own experiences working alongside migrant farm workers as a teenager in the 1910s (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
John Steinbeck IV that these guiding elements have never abandoned me and, as I and others continue to recover from the effects of my actions, I am encouraged that these qualities will endure, even shine." In 1990, Steinbeck was diagnosed with a ruptured disc. He underwent corrective surgery on February 7, 1991, and died immediately after the operation. In 2001, his posthumous memoir "The Other Side of Eden: Life With John Steinbeck" was published by Prometheus Books. The book jacket reads: "Left unfinished at his untimely death, this testament to his life is here reconstructed by Nancy Steinbeck. Interweaving her own reminiscences of