What personal experiences did John Steinbeck draw upon to write Of Mice and Men?

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John Steinbeck drew upon his personal experiences as a manual laborer to lend authenticity to his depictions of working-class lives in his novels. He spent time supporting himself through various jobs before achieving literary success, and these firsthand experiences informed the characters and settings in his fiction, including Of Mice and Men. His time in Monterey County, California, also served as a backdrop for some of his stories.1