The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

Michael J. Meyer

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Year: 2009
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216231950
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: North American Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

First published in 1937, Of Mice and Men has been a staple of American literature ever since. Divided by decade, The Essential Criticism of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men provides an overview of criticism over the 70 years the book has been in print. Michael J. Meyer has assembled significant articles and book excerpts from critics and reviewers, citing the early book reviews and highlighting some of the most significant essays.

While not all critical studies are included, those assessments not present in the text are evaluated by summaries and their bibliographic citations are given. The essays express various critical approaches, including those that criticize the book and examine what some consider the book's flaws. Ideal for research work at all levels, this volume collects in one place the most significant contributions to the study of the novel, making it a welcome addition to the canon of Steinbeck criticism.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Editor's Note
• Part I. The 1930s
• Chapter 01. Book Reviews
• Part II. The 1940s and 1950s
• Chapter 02. The Wide World of John Steinbeck, Chapter 8
• Part III. The 1930s and 1970s
• Chapter 03. John Steinbeck’s Parable of the Curse of Cain
• Chapter 04. Of George and Lennie and Curley’s Wife: Sweet Violence in Steinbeck’s Eden
• Chapter 05. The Novels of John Steinbeck, Excerpt from Chapter 5
• Chapter 06. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (Novel) (1937)
• Part IV. The 1980s
• Chapter 07. A Game of Cards in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
• Chapter 08. John Steinbeck’s Fiction: The Aesthetics of the Road Taken: “Of Mice and Men” (Chapter 4)
• Part V. The 1990s
• Chapter 09. A Historical Introduction to Of Mice and Men
• Chapter 10. Manhood Beset: Misogyny in Of Mice and Men
• Chapter 11. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1937)
• Chapter 12. Of Mice and Men: Steinbeck’s Speculations in Manhood
• Chapter 13. Queer Borders: Figures from the 1930s for U.S.-Canadian Relations
• Part VI. Since 2000
• Chapter 14. Of Mice and Men: A Story of Innocence Retained
• Chapter 15. Of Mice and Men: Creating and Re-Creating Curley’s Wife
• Chapter 16. Deadly Kids, Stinking Dogs, and Heroes: The Best Laid Plans in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
• Chapter 17. Reading the Character of Crooks in Of Mice and Men: A Black Writer’s Perspective
• Part VII. New Essays
• Chapter 18. Reduced to Nothing: Race, Lynching, and Erasure in the Theater Revision of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men
• Chapter 19. Emotion Recollected in Tranquility: A Context for Romanticism in Of Mice and Men.
• Chapter 20: One Is the Loneliest Number: Steinbeck’s Paradoxical Attraction and Repulsion to Isolation/Solitude
• Chapter 21. Musical Intertextuality in Action: A Directed Reading of Of Mice and Men
• Appendix
• Index
• About the Editor and Contributors