Lennie said: 'Tell me how it will be when we have our land.' George listened to catch the distant sounds. For a moment, he took on the demeanor of a practical and methodical man. 'Look across the river, Lennie, and I'll tell you so you can almost see it.' Lennie turned his head and looked toward the opposite shore of the lake and up at the darkening slopes of the Gabilans.

'We'll have a little house' George began. He reached into his side pocket and pulled out Carlson's Luger. In America during the interwar period, amid the great depression, the gigantic and simple Lennie and the small and clever George wander from place to place, drifters, searching for work.

Lennie cannot distinguish right from wrong and loves to touch soft things - the fur of an animal, the hair of a girl. The two mismatched but inseparable friends get a job on a ranch, and there, prompted by the beautiful wife of the cruel Curley, the boss's son, a tragedy unfolds.

Of Mice and Men is a harsh yet deeply human story of shattered dreams. Since its publication in 1937, it has been presented countless times in theater, adapted for film and television, and is considered one of the undeniable masterpieces of 20th-century American literature. [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]