James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) began his literary career with a bet that he could write a novel better than the one his wife was reading. He went on to become one of the most popular authors of his era and is today considered a father of the American novel. He is best remembered for the Leatherstocking Tales, a five-volume series starring the incomparable frontiersman Natty Bumppo.