John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men: A Reference Guide

One of the great works of American literature, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is popular with the international reading public and is widely taught at high schools and colleges. Although it is a short work with relatively few characters, it is intricately structured. This book is an introductory guide to the novel. Included are chapters on the book's plot, textual history, social and intellectual contexts, themes and ideas, literary style, and critical reception. The volume concludes with a valuable bibliographical essay. One of the great works of American literature, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is popular with the international reading public and is widely taught at high schools and colleges. Like the Joads of The Grapes of Wrath, the novel's principal protagonists, George and Lennie, have joined a cavalcade of literary figures that forever inhabit the imaginary landscape of America and the world. The novel has also generated controversy: it was one of the most frequently banned books in the public school curriculum of the 1990s. This guide provides a concise overview of Steinbeck's work. Though it is a short novel with relatively few characters, it is intricately structured and much more complex than some critics have acknowledged. Steinbeck considered it an experiment, and his use of language is challenging. The book includes chapters on: ; Steinbeck's life and the place of the novel in his canon ; The novel's plot ; The textual background of the work ; The social, cultural, literary, and intellectual contexts surrounding the novel ; Themes and ideas in Of Mice and Men ; Steinbeck's literary artistry ; The novel's critical and scholarly reception ; And a bibliographical essay. General readers and students at all levels will find this guide to be a valuable introduction to this major American masterpiece.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Content Texts Contexts Ideas Narrative Art Reception Bibliographical Essay

About the Author :
Barbara Heavilin is Associate Professor of English at Taylor University. Her previous books include The Critical Response to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (2000) and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: A Reference Guide (2002), both available from Greenwood Press.

Review :
Barbara Heavilin's study of and guide to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men has much to recommend it. She provides interesting and informative chapters on the Contents, Texts, Contexts, Ideas, Narrative Art and Reception of the novel/play. There is also a brief bibliographical essay. Having gone over some of this same ground in my years of teaching what I consider a well constructed, almost perfect work of narrative art, it is always pleasing to me to find a writer who brings something new to the criticism, makes me look at the novel in a fresh way and gives me more ideas to introduce in the classroom discussion….[r]eaders will find much to enhance their readings of the novel. Barbara Heavilin's analysis and interpretation is a useful resource.