By John Steinbeck
112 pages; Penguin
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"I saw the play when I was 16, before I read the book, and was just knocked out by it. I remember sitting in the theater and being unable to speak at the end. I had the same feeling after reading the book," says Gary Sinise about Steinbeck's 1937 novella, which tells the tragic tale of two Depression-era migrant workers, tough but protective George and overgrown, slow-witted Lennie. Sinise's initial fascination turned out to be lasting: Two decades later, he directed and starred in a movie version, playing George to John Malkovich's Lennie. "Up until Of Mice and Men, I had not been a big reader in high school; that book got me reading."

— As told to Naomi Barr