William Howells was an American realist author and literary critic. In 1904 he was one of the first seven members chosen for the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Howells wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Ibsen, Zola, Verga, and, Tolstoy. These writings helped to establish their reputations in the United States. Perhaps his greatest influence came from his writing critically in support of many American writers. Papers and stories in this collection include Man of Letters in Business -- Confessions of a Summer Colonist -- The Young Contributor -- Last Days in a Dutch Hotel -- Anomalies of the Short Story -- Spanish Prisoners of War -- American Literary Centers -- Standard Household Effect Co. -- Notes of a Vanished Summer -- Worries of a Winter Walk -- Summer Isles of Eden -- Wild Flowers of the Asphalt -- A Circus in the Suburbs -- A She Hamlet -- The Midnight Platoon -- The Beach at Rockaway -- Sawdust in the Arena -- At a Dime Museum -- American Literature in Exile -- The Horse Show -- The Problem of the Summer -- Aesthetic New York Fifty-odd Years Ago -- From New York into New England -- The Art of the Adsmith -- The Psychology of Plagiarism -- Puritanism in American Fiction -- The What and How in Art -- Politics in American Authors ­ Storage -- "Floating down the River on the O-hi-o".