author
William Dean Howells
1837–1920
A leading voice of American literary realism, he helped shape late 19th-century fiction through his novels, criticism, and editorial work. His writing often brings ordinary social life into sharp, lively focus, with a calm wit that still feels fresh.
110 Audiobooks
A Modern Instance
by William Dean Howells
Criticism and Fiction
by William Dean Howells
The Lady of the Aroostook
by William Dean Howells
Literary Friends and Acquaintance; a Personal Retrospect of American Authorship
by William Dean Howells
A Traveler from Altruria: Romance
by William Dean Howells
Cambridge Neighbors (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
Literature and Life (Complete)
by William Dean Howells
Impressions and experiences
by William Dean Howells
Complete Project Gutenberg William Dean Howells Literature Essays
by William Dean Howells
Their Silver Wedding Journey — Volume 2
by William Dean Howells
The Rise of Silas Lapham
by William Dean Howells
A Hazard of New Fortunes — Complete
by William Dean Howells
Complete Project Gutenberg William Dean Howells Works
by William Dean Howells
Between the Dark and the Daylight
by William Dean Howells
A Psychological Counter-Current in Recent Fiction
by William Dean Howells
Through the Eye of the Needle: A Romance
by William Dean Howells
Quotes and Images From The Works of William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells
A Belated Guest (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
The Leatherwood God
by William Dean Howells
An Open-Eyed Conspiracy; An Idyl of Saratoga
by William Dean Howells
A Hazard of New Fortunes — Volume 2
by William Dean Howells
The Man of Letters as a Man of Business
by William Dean Howells
April Hopes
by William Dean Howells
A Hazard of New Fortunes — Volume 3
by William Dean Howells
London Films
by William Dean Howells
Indian Summer
by William Dean Howells
My First Visit to New England, and Others (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
Certain delightful English towns, with glimpses of the pleasant country between
by William Dean Howells
Familiar Spanish Travels
by William Dean Howells
Suburban Sketches
by William Dean Howells
Some Anomalies of the Short Story (from Literature and Life)
by William Dean Howells
The Flight of Pony Baker A Boy's Town Story
by William Dean Howells
Christmas Every Day and Other Stories
by William Dean Howells
The Whole Family: a Novel by Twelve Authors
by William Dean Howells, Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews, John Kendrick Bangs, Alice Brown, Mary Stewart Cutting, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Henry James, Elizabeth Garver Jordan, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Henry Van Dyke, Mary Heaton Vorse, Edith Wyatt
A Likely Story
by William Dean Howells
The Story of a Play A Novel
by William Dean Howells
A Little Swiss Sojourn
by William Dean Howells
Roundabout to Boston (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
The Parlor Car
by William Dean Howells
A Hazard of New Fortunes — Volume 1
by William Dean Howells
A Hazard of New Fortunes — Volume 4
by William Dean Howells
Roman Holidays, and Others
by William Dean Howells
The Kentons
by William Dean Howells
Buying a Horse
by William Dean Howells
My Mark Twain (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
Studies of Lowell (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
Boy Life Stories and Readings Selected From The Works of William Dean Howells
by William Dean Howells
A Foregone Conclusion
by William Dean Howells
A Pair of Patient Lovers
by William Dean Howells
The Albany Depot : a Farce
by William Dean Howells
Spanish Prisoners of War (from Literature and Life)
by William Dean Howells
The Entire March Family Trilogy
by William Dean Howells
Their Wedding Journey
by William Dean Howells
Seven English Cities
by William Dean Howells
The White Mr. Longfellow (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
The Coast of Bohemia
by William Dean Howells
Their Silver Wedding Journey — Complete
by William Dean Howells
Their Silver Wedding Journey — Volume 3
by William Dean Howells
Bride Roses
by William Dean Howells
Venetian Life
by William Dean Howells
Annie Kilburn : a Novel
by William Dean Howells
The Quality of Mercy
by William Dean Howells
Dr. Breen's Practice
by William Dean Howells
A Chance Acquaintance
by William Dean Howells
Ragged Lady — Volume 2
by William Dean Howells
The Landlord at Lion's Head — Complete
by William Dean Howells
The Minister's Charge; Or, The Apprenticeship of Lemuel Barker
by William Dean Howells
Fennel and Rue
by William Dean Howells
American Literary Centers (from Literature and Life)
by William Dean Howells
Ragged Lady — Volume 1
by William Dean Howells
Oliver Wendell Holmes (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
A Counterfeit Presentment; and, The Parlour Car
by William Dean Howells
Ragged Lady — Complete
by William Dean Howells
Henry James, Jr.
by William Dean Howells
Short Stories and Essays (from Literature and Life)
by William Dean Howells
My Literary Passions
by William Dean Howells
Confessions of a Summer Colonist (from Literature and Life)
by William Dean Howells
The Daughter of the Storage And Other Things in Prose and Verse
by William Dean Howells
The Landlord at Lion's Head — Volume 2
by William Dean Howells
Last Days in a Dutch Hotel (from Literature and Life)
by William Dean Howells
Literary Boston as I Knew It (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance)
by William Dean Howells
A Hazard of New Fortunes — Volume 5
by William Dean Howells
Italian Journeys
by William Dean Howells
The Man of Letters as a Man of Business
by William Dean Howells
A Confession of St. Augustine
by William Dean Howells
Mrs. Farrell
by William Dean Howells
A Fearful Responsibility and Other Stories
by William Dean Howells
The Landlord at Lion's Head — Volume 1
by William Dean Howells
Modern Italian Poets; Essays and Versions
by William Dean Howells
The Register
by William Dean Howells
Stories Of Ohio
by William Dean Howells
The World of Chance
by William Dean Howells
Emile Zola
by William Dean Howells
The Sleeping-Car: A Farce
by William Dean Howells
Five O'Clock Tea: Farce
by William Dean Howells
Une rencontre: roman de deux touristes sur le Saint-Laurent et le Saguenay
by William Dean Howells
Imaginary Interviews
by William Dean Howells
Evening Dress Farce
by William Dean Howells
The Elevator
by William Dean Howells
Their Silver Wedding Journey — Volume 1
by William Dean Howells
About the author
Born in Ohio in 1837, he grew up around printing offices and newspapers, learning the trade early and largely educating himself through reading and work. That practical start fed a long career as a novelist, critic, editor, playwright, and diplomat, and he became known as one of the central figures in American literary realism.
He is especially remembered for bringing everyday manners, ambitions, and moral choices into fiction without melodrama. Alongside his own novels and stories, he had major influence as an editor at The Atlantic Monthly and as a supporter of other writers, including Mark Twain and Henry James.
By the time of his death in 1920, he had earned the nickname "the Dean of American Letters." That title fits not just because he wrote so much, but because he helped define what serious American fiction could sound like: observant, humane, and closely tied to real life.