The Figure in the Carpet is a short story (sometimes considered a novella) by American writer Henry James first published in 1896. It is told in the first person; the narrator, whose name is never revealed, meets his favourite author and becomes obsessed with discovering the secret meaning or intention of all the author's works. (Wikipedia)
Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American-British author regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. (Wikipedia)