William Dean Howells

William Dean Howells (1837–1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, best known for his years as editor of The Atlantic Monthly. His novels include The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria, and A Hazard of New Fortunes follows a magazine editor and his wife as he takes on a new career in New York. Howells also worked as a diplomat, was nicknamed the Dean of American Letters, and wrote the Christmas story Christmas Every Day, later adapted into a 1996 film.