Poor People (1846), Dostoevsky's first novel written when the author was twenty-four, made him famous literally overnight. Although it shows the influence of Gogol's The Overcoat, this novel is written with a sympathy and understanding that enable it to stand on its own as an original work. So great was its impact upon the critics of its time that it became responsible for the literary term, "the natural school," which was applied to an entire group of Russian novels. After writing the book, Dostoevsky became involved with a group of radicals headed by the young and rich dilettante, Mikhail Petrashevsky.