According to biographer Margaret Connolly, Frank A. Munsey, the well-known American magazine publisher, said of his friend and colleague Orison Swett Marden, "If Doctor Marden had not written his first book he would have been a millionaire. He had a genius for hotel making." Marden was a man of paradoxes. While he was a visionary who tried to bring about a better world for himself and others, he was also a pragmatist who knew the value of a dollar and how to make money. And while he was a man of letters, founding a magazine and authoring many best-selling books, he was respected as a successful businessman. Although he was socially awkward and uncomfortable for much of his life, he eventually won honors for his oratory skills and became a community leader. Marden was a man with many skills and aptitudes, who would have been successful in any...