Background on John Steinbeck : John Steinbeck: the man and his work contemporary literary criticism select -- Steinbecke's experience as a ranch hand informed Of mice and men / Jay Parini -- The social environment in Of mice and men / Joyce Moss and George Wilson -- Of Mice and Men and the American dream : characters in Of mice and men search for the promise of America / Kenneth D. Swan -- Of mice and men describes just one phase of the American dream / Frederick I. Carpenter -- Of Mice and Men offers a pessimistic view of the American dream / Duncan Reith -- The American Eden in Of mice and men is an illusion / Louis Owens -- The American dream is doomed in Of Mice and Men / John H. Timmerman -- Steinbeck explores the American dream through language, action, and symbols in Of Mice and Men / Peter Lisca -- Capitalism thwarts the American dream in Of mice and men / John L. Marsden -- Curley's wife in Of mice and men struggles toward her own American dream / Charlotte Cooke Hadella -- Curley's wife is alienated from the American dream in Of Mice and Men / Lesley Broder -- Homelessness creates loneliness in Of mice and men / Winifred Dusenbury Frazer -- Contemporary perspectives on the American dream : reconsidering the American dream / David Kamp -- The dangerous side of the American dream / Peter C. Whybrow -- The American dream is becoming harder to achieve for immigrants / Judy Keen -- The American dream is alive and well / Stephen Moore.