Review

Here are a couple of reviews
Two men, George and Lenny, form a strong friendship, one man assuming the role of father-figure for the other, who has a child-like mentality but a brute strength that needs to be kept in check. Their quest in life is simple - to become settled and self-sufficient and to end their roaming lifestyle. However, George, the father-figure, is forced to face the reality of Lenny's mental instability/physical strength; he takes on the responsiblity of preventing further hurt/death by ending his friend's life, and thus ending his dream for their future."
J.L. McEachen, Resident Scholar
2nd Review
"George and Lenny have a dream. They want to save enough of the money that they earn as migrant field hands to buy their own farm and become their own bosses. George will be able to settle down without having to spend all his time and energy looking out for his huge cousin, Lenny, who is retarded, and Lenny will be able to do as he pleases without causing them trouble. They are hired to help pick the crop on a farm. The pint-size foreman, Curley, a sadistic, former boxer, who is unsure of his manhood and of his ability to satisfy his wife, doesn't like Lenny from the start, and George warns Lenny to stay clear of both Curley and his wife. One of the other workers gives Lenny a newborn puppy, which stays in the barn with its mother. After Curley picks a fight with Lenny and Lenny breaks Curley's hand, Curley goes to the hospital and Lenny seeks to comfort himself by stroking his puppy, which he has unknowingly killed. Curley's wife enters the barn and flirts with Lenny. She lets him pet her hair, as he had petted the puppy, but he won't release her hair when she tries to pull away. Frightened, she screams, and Lenny, trying to silence her, accidentally breaks her neck. Curley returns, and he and his men hunt for Lenny. George suspects that Lenny will go to a nearby creek. George finds him there, and kills him quickly and mercifully so that Lenny won't fall into the hands of the sadistic Curley. This is a short and enjoyable, if somewhat sentimental, novel, that illustrates the difficulty of the uneducated poor and their attempt to better their lives. It also condemns the harsh brutality of farm owners who cared nothing for the men by whose sweat and blood they obtained and retained the profits from their farms."
Gary Pullman, Resident Scholar