Singing Mouse Stories, The

The reveries a man and his most talented companion mouse, these stories are representative of a significant subgenre of fantasy. Emerson Hough (1857-1923) taught school before studying law at the University of Iowa, graduating in 1880. Hough was admitted to the bar in 1882 and practiced law at White Oaks, New Mexico, but found it had no appeal for him. He turned to a literary career by taking camping trips and writing about them for publication. His body of work eventually included 27 novels and hundreds of short stories and articles. Hough's early works included The Singing Mouse Stories, for children, in 1895 and the nonfiction The Story of the Cowboy in 1897. He had his first major success in 1902 with the novel The Mississippi Bubble, which became a best-seller. The Way of the West followed the next year.