A Good-For-Nothing

The author, Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen, is notable for his contributions to literature as a Norwegian-American writer and college professor. His most recognized work, Gunnar: A Tale of Norse Life, is significant as it is regarded as the first novel by a Norwegian immigrant in America. After migrating in 1869, he took on the role of assistant editor for a Norwegian weekly in Chicago and produced several scholarly works focusing on German and Scandinavian literature, including analyses of prominent authors like Goethe, Schiller, and Ibsen.