Few figures hold a firmer place in the affections of their readers than Oliver Goldsmith. The endearing qualities of his writings and of the man himself are the same -- the simple charm of the essays from The Citizen of the World, the tenderness of The Vicar of Wakefield, the compassion of The Deserted Village and other poems, the hilarity of She Stoops to Conquer. An indifferent student in his youth of law, medicine, and pedagogy, he became an honor graduate of the school of human weaknesses and suffering -- for which the eighteenth century provided ample classrooms. When he finally turned to literature, his experiences were not expressed with the satirist's biting ridicule but with the genuine warmth, humanity, and humor which have made him a beloved friend of generations of readers.