Denis Boyles tells the amazing story of this atlas of human brilliance  a massive 29-volume  44 million word anthology of some of the best essays written in English It is the story of how Horace Everett Hooper - a volatile  self-assured  impulsive  and optimistic American  an autodidact and natural-born salesman - got into the book business at age 16  moved to the Western frontier and on to Chicago  and became hugely successful