A compelling story of two outsiders striving to find their place in an unforgiving world, John Steinbeck s Of Mice and Men includes an introduction by Susan Shillinglaw in Penguin Classics . Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back - and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California s Salinas Valley, but their hopes are dashed as Lennie - struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy - becomes a victim of his own strength. Tackling universal themes of friendship and shared vision, and giving a voice to America s lonely and dispossessed, Of Mice and Men remains Steinbeck s most popular work, achieving success as a novel, Broadway play and three acclaimed films. John Steinbeck (1902-68), winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature, is remembered as one of the greatest and best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. During the Second World War Steinbeck served as a war correspondent, his journalism later collected in Once There Was a War (1958), and he was awarded the Norwegian Cross of Freedom for his portrayal in The Moon is Down (1942) of Resistance efforts in northern Europe. His best-known works include the epics The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and East of Eden (1952), and his tragic novella Of Mice and Men (1937). John Steinbeck s complete works are published in Penguin Modern Classics . If you enjoyed Of Mice and Men , you might like Steinbeck s Cannery Row , also available in Penguin Modern Classics . A thriller, a gripping tale that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick . ( The New York Times ).