Who Moved My Cheese?

You can’t evaluate the contents of this slender volume without also considering its almost immeasurable social impact: one million hardcover copies sold in 16 months; 21 million more copies went in the next five years. Pre-Cheese, Johnson was already a bestseller; he co-wrote the business classic The One-Minute Manager with Ken Blanchard. Johnson also wrote The New York Times bestseller The Present. Other self-help books in the Johnson universe include Out of the Maze and Peaks and Valleys.

Blanchard, among other friends, urged Johnson to write Cheese after hearing him recite its story. The tale, like all successful parables, is simple. Two “mice” and two mouse-sized “littlepeople” live in a maze. They find what appears to be a lifetime supply of cheese and settle down. But the cheese runs out, and the characters must face and cope with change. How they do it inspired millions of readers.