Mick Wiggins was honored when Penguin Classics commissioned him to create cover illustrations for the entire John Steinbeck catalog: 23 titles in all. Over the course of more than a year, Mick pushed himself to achieve the level of excellence that Steinbeck's work deserves.

“I did the cover for “Of Mice and Men” toward the beginning of the Steinbeck series; it remains one of my favorite pieces. I was very conscious of the fact that this title, being the American classic it is, would either haunt me or do me well for years to come… so, yeah, there was a certain amount of flop-sweat involved…”