William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells, one of the foremost practitioners of literary realism in nineteenth-century American fiction, takes on issues of class, morality and family values in this sprawling novel that follows multiple generations of the genteel Mavering family of New England.

A significant figure in American literature, William Dean Howells was a proponent of social realism, and he grapples with issues of class and cultural clashes in the novel Annie Kilburn. After many years abroad, a family tragedy brings Annie back to her small hometown in New England. She finds that her experiences in Europe have opened her eyes to...

In this uproarious short play from the "Dean of American Letters," goodhearted but impractical protagonist Edward Roberts sets out to lighten his wife's domestic workload by hiring a household cook. A series of increasingly absurd difficulties rear their heads, and Roberts' quest fails in a rather spectacular fashion.

When William Dean Howells was 25, he was appointed to a diplomatic post in Venice by then-President Abraham Lincoln. This engrossing collection of essays and sketches outlines Howells' time in Venice, with a particular focus on cultural differences between America and Italy.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trend of forming utopian communities became prevalent across the United States. Several of William Dean Howells' novels gently satirized this movement; in Through the Eye of the Needle, an unlikely pair of utopian community dwellers fall in love.

Known as the "Dean of American Letters," author and editor William Dean Howells produced many novels and plays over the course of his august career. In the novel The Story of a Play, he ingeniously combines both genres, penning a tale about a romance between a woman and a journalist who dreams of becoming a famous playwright.

In the late 1800s, novelist and poet William Dean Howells began to write a series of short comic plays he called farces, often dealing with episodes drawn from day-to-day life. In The Register, zany heroines Henrietta Spaulding and Ethel Reed spruce up their newly rented apartment.

William Dean Howells' second collection of poetry was published in 1873, and includes the best work from his early period. In the long poem "Forlorn," a man is brought to his knees by unrequited love; "The Pilot's Story" is a stirring narrative of the American Civil War.

In this epic family saga that comprises three complete novels, readers can follow the lives of Isabel and Basil March from their honeymoon (Their Wedding Journey), through Basil's attempt to make a career change (A Hazard of New Fortunes), and finally through a trip the couple makes to Germany decades into their marriage (Their Silver Wedding...

In this short novel from the "Dean of American Letters," a young woman traveling with her aunt and uncle makes the acquaintance of an unusual gentleman from New England. Though at first she is puzzled and perhaps even repelled by his eccentric worldview and personality, she gradually begins to feel drawn toward him.