Charles Dickens' first novel, The Pickwick Papers, was a phenomenal success upon its release. Like most of Dickens' work, it was first published in serial form, where it became the most popular reading of the day. The Pickwick Papers tells the story of Samuel Pickwick, a good-hearted old gentleman and president of the Pickwick Club. With three other members of the club, Pickwick travels around the English countryside, where he becomes caught up in a serious of comic adventures, from romantic and legal misunderstandings. Though light in tone, the novel foreshadows the social concerns that would emerge in Dickens' later work.