by Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian | Although Dr. Samuel Johnson is not a fictional character in a novel, he is the subject of a great biography. The preeminent man of letters in the eighteenth century, Dr. Johnson accomplished extraordinary feats of writing.

Members of a family know each other too well to be fooled by brother’s daydream to be a millionaire, sister’s fantasy to be a great actress, or grandson’s ambition to be a professional athlete. The family teaches humility, self-knowledge, the art of the possible, and the way things are.