The Day x Connell Guides - The Connell Short Guide to John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck’s famous tale about two farm labourers was a hit immediately it was published in 1937, with critics praising it for its simple, unassuming realism. “The theme is not, as the title would suggest, that the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley,” wrote Fred Marsh in the New York Times Book Review, “but a play on the immemorial theme of what men live by besides bread alone.” In this short guide Stephen Fender examines what Steinbeck is really trying to tell us in his novel, and explains what it is that makes it such a masterpiece.