Context
Author
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) was born in Salinas, California. He came from a middle class family. His father was the county treasurer, and his mother was a former schoolteacher. She inspired and encouraged his love of books and reading.
He attended Stanford University, but he did not graduate. In his twenties, he traveled to New York City with the dream of supporting himself as a freelance writer. When his efforts failed, he went home to California. He then began to work seriously on novels and short stories.
He intermittently attended Stanford University, but left after six years without a degree. In 1935 he published his first successful novel, Tortilla Flat, which validated his passion for writing. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1962. Follow up novels exposed the plight of the California laboring class, beginning with In Dubious Battle in 1936. Of Mice and Men followed in 1937. His most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath, won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize. In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in literature [1].
Steinbeck said in his essay “Advice For Beginning Writers” (1963) that he still felt afraid every time he began writing a story, even though he had a long successful writing career behind him. He went on to say that a writer who does not experience this fear may not have an appropriate respect for the art of writing
Background
When Steinbeck was a young adult, he spent his summer vacations working as a hired hand on local ranches. His interactions with the people he met during those summers greatly influenced the characters he created throughout his career. In an interview following the publication of Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck revealed that all the characters in the novel are composites based on real people.
Novel Setting
Steinbeck sets Of Mice and Men against the backdrop of Depression-era America in Salinas, California. The economic conditions of the time victimized workers like George and Lennie, whose lives were marked by challenge and disappointment, as well as compassion and love.
Synopsis
Of Mice and Men is a novella that 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 in hopes attaining the American Dream [2].
Sources:
1. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/context.html2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) was born in Salinas, California. He came from a middle class family. His father was the county treasurer, and his mother was a former schoolteacher. She inspired and encouraged his love of books and reading.
He attended Stanford University, but he did not graduate. In his twenties, he traveled to New York City with the dream of supporting himself as a freelance writer. When his efforts failed, he went home to California. He then began to work seriously on novels and short stories.
He intermittently attended Stanford University, but left after six years without a degree. In 1935 he published his first successful novel, Tortilla Flat, which validated his passion for writing. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1962. Follow up novels exposed the plight of the California laboring class, beginning with In Dubious Battle in 1936. Of Mice and Men followed in 1937. His most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath, won the 1940 Pulitzer Prize. In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in literature [1].
Steinbeck said in his essay “Advice For Beginning Writers” (1963) that he still felt afraid every time he began writing a story, even though he had a long successful writing career behind him. He went on to say that a writer who does not experience this fear may not have an appropriate respect for the art of writing
Background
When Steinbeck was a young adult, he spent his summer vacations working as a hired hand on local ranches. His interactions with the people he met during those summers greatly influenced the characters he created throughout his career. In an interview following the publication of Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck revealed that all the characters in the novel are composites based on real people.
Novel Setting
Steinbeck sets Of Mice and Men against the backdrop of Depression-era America in Salinas, California. The economic conditions of the time victimized workers like George and Lennie, whose lives were marked by challenge and disappointment, as well as compassion and love.
Synopsis
Of Mice and Men is a novella that 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 in hopes attaining the American Dream [2].
Sources:
1. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/context.html2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men
