Of Mice and Men Audiobook by John Steinbeck

Why the audiobook wins

Gary Sinise reads Of Mice and Men like a man who has spent time on that ranch himself, and the effect is startling: Lennie's voice never tips into caricature, George's patience never sounds performed, and the last few pages land with a weight that's genuinely hard to sit through in a car. Sinise's own history with Steinbeck's California runs deep, and you can hear it in every restrained line.

At barely three hours, this is one of the rare audiobooks you can finish in a single sitting, which suits the story's relentless build toward its ending. Listen to it start to finish, ideally somewhere you won't need to pull over.

Few actors are as associated with Steinbeck's voice as Sinise, and his narration has become something of a standard for this novel. Three hours is nothing to ask, and one credit buys you the gut-punch in full.