Describes the typical adventures of a mid-nineteenth-century boy from his third to eleventh years...... William Dean Howells March 1, 1837 - May 11, 1920 was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed The Dean of American Letters. He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of The Atlantic Monthly, as well as for his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story Christmas Every Day and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria. Early life and family William Dean Howells was born on March 1, 1837 in Martinsville, Ohio now known as Martins Ferry, Ohio to William Cooper Howells and Mary Dean Howells, the second of eight children. His father was a newspaper editor and printer who moved frequently around Ohio. In 1840, the family settled in Hamilton, Ohio, where his father oversaw a Whig newspaper and followed Swedenborgianism.Their nine years there were the longest period that they stayed in one place. The family had to li