Christopher Morley (1890-1957) was born in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and studied at Haverford College, where his father worked as a mathematics teacher. Subsequently, he would enroll in the English University of Oxford to study modern history for three years (a time that would count in his autobiographical novel of 1931 John Mistletoe, and, in part, in Kathleen). In 1913, back in the United States, he settled in New York and began working at Doubleday Publishing. A few years later he would become, traveling the United States as a columnist and reporter, one of the most prestigious journalists of his time. His first novel, The Traveling Bookstore (Periférica, 2012), was published in 1917; in 1919 its continuation appeared, The Enchanted Bookstore (Peripheral, 2013). In 1939 he became known worldwide for his novel Kitty Foyle, transferred to the cinema with Ginger Rogers as the protagonist.
Intelligent, lucid and sophisticated, he was a successful writer and at the same time a cult writer. Compared to Noel Coward, it has been said of him that his refinement was undoubtedly British. Subtle humorist, he said of himself that he loved both Shakespeare and Conan Doyle from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. However, his two great teachers were his compatriots: Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. The echo of his work is found in writers from different countries and generations: from Kingsley Amis to Tom Wolfe.