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This book contains two representative novellas, "Of Mice and Men" and "The Pearl" by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck. Although George and Lennie in "Of Mice and Men" make a living by doing odd jobs on the farm, they dream of one day owning a small piece of land of their own and no longer living on the road. This dream is as wonderful as heaven to them, and as far away as heaven. It's a pity that the light of fate failed to shine into the cruel reality at the bottom. "Pearl" is like a fable, exuding a sharp edge that penetrates reality. When the pearl diver Jino picked up the pearl that symbolized luck from the bottom of the sea, he also opened a dark door full of human greed and evil; the stars pointing to dreams eventually became the boulder that crushed fate.

"The Little Red Horse" is a collection of short stories published by Steinbeck in 1937. It consists of four short stories: "The Gift", "The Mountain", "The Promise" and "The Chief of the People". The child protagonist Jody writes about the birth, old age, illness and death of the horse, various labors, the process of moving westward, and the fate of the elderly in their old age. All of this left a mark on Jodi's young mind, either with joy, worry, longing, or sadness. In this collection of short stories, Steinbeck created a children's world in which there are no fairies or giants. Children can see colors more clearly than adults, experience them more intensely than adults, and children's momentary sadness also appears more unique. The work exudes the earthy atmosphere of the countryside, intertwined with the subtle changes in children's mentality, achieving a refreshing and gratifying effect.

"The Grapes of Wrath" is the masterpiece of Steinbeck, the famous American writer and Nobel Prize winner for literature. The novel tells the story of a large number of farmers who went bankrupt and fled during the economic panic in the United States in the 1930s. The writer once followed farmers in Oklahoma as they wandered to California, and what he saw along the way shocked him. With his realistic writing style, he detailedly and thoroughly displayed that unforgettable special period in American history. As soon as the work came out, it caused panic among the powerful elites in various states at that time. Many states banned the publication of the novel. None of this can change the huge influence of "The Grapes of Wrath". To this day, it still occupies an unshakable and important position in the history of modern American literature.

"The Moon Has Gone" is a novel by Steinbeck published in 1942. The novel takes the German occupation of a Nordic country (an allusion to Norway) during World War II as the historical background. It describes the story of the anti-fascist people in a small town led by Mayor Oton who resisted the Nazi occupying forces. What is different from general anti-fascist works is that in this novel, Steinbeck's descriptions of the positive and negative characters try to show the two sides of human nature: the heroic (or fascist) side and the ordinary side. He did not exalt the anti-fascist people and write about them as "high and mighty", but highlighted their love for freedom and their various forms of resistance as they could not bear the aggression of the occupying forces. He also did not demonize the German occupying forces in his description. In his writing, these invaders were weak and even full of humanity.

Lenny is two meters tall and frighteningly strong, but has the mind of a child and often gets into trouble. His only friend is George, whom he grew up with. George took him around doing odd jobs to make a living. They have a dream, hoping to one day have their own small piece of land, a cabin, a cow, a rabbit hutch, and some chickens. However, such a humble request is nothing more than a dream. This time, they wandered to a farm. The never-ending wandering life has finally come to an end, but so has the dream. George finally helped Lennie find a place. There, Lenny will never get into trouble again, never be hurt again, never need to run away again... "Of Mice and Men" was first published in 1937. It is one of John Steinbeck's masterpieces. The title of the book comes from the British poet Burns's poem "The best arrangements of mice and men are full of accidents," which implies the tragic fate of little people.

For diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the prospect of a better life for his impoverished family. The dream blinded him from seeing the greed and disaster caused by the pearl. Steinbeck's classic reveals the absurdity of the American Dream - where wealth solves all problems - and how we fall from innocence and then back again.

"The Chrysanthemums" is a short story written by John Steinbeck in 1938. It tells the story of the heroine's desire and disillusionment for freedom in a closed farm life. The novel uses symbolism to show the survival dilemma of traditional women in a patriarchal society.

In 1960, Nobel laureate John Steinbeck and his dog Charlie drove across the United States in a campervan called "The Rooster." From the North Cape of Maine to the Monterey Peninsula of California, what I saw along the way outlines the complex appearance of American society at that time.