This biographical novel captures the life of the famed American physician and author Oliver Wendell Holmes as told by William Dean Howells. Examining the profound contributions of a man widely respected for his literary success, the book recounts the relationships he had with his writing friends and acquaintances. As a member of the famed Saturday Club, for instance, he was instrumental in the founding of the Atlantic Monthly magazine which was edited by Holmes's friend James Russell Lowell. Articles were contributed to it by the New England literary elite such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Lothrop Motley and J. Elliot Cabot. Holmes not only provided the magazine's name, but also wrote various pieces for the journal throughout the years.