Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) wrote vivid accounts about life in New Orleans, the West Indies, and Japan. This appreciative 1908 biography discusses his birth to an Irish father and Greek mother, his work and travels, and the impact of poor eyesight on this "poet of myopia." Gould writes, "Of Lafcadio Hearn there has been, and will be, no excuse for any biography whatever. A properly edited volume of his letters, and... development of his imaginative power and literary character are, and still remain, most desirable."