John Matteson
Author of Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father
About the Author
John Matteson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for Eden's Outcasts and the Ann M. Sperber Prize for The Lives of Margaret Fuller. Distinguished Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, he lives in the Bronx.
Image credit: John Matteson, on right. Columbia University. pulitzer.org
Works by John Matteson
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Matteson, John Thomas
- Birthdate
- 1961-03-03
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
- Education
- Harvard University (JD)
Columbia University (PhD|English|1999)
Princeton University (AB ∙ History) - Occupations
- lawyer
university professor - Organizations
- John Jay College, City University of New York
Members
Reviews
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 616
- Popularity
- #40,815
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 16
- ISBNs
- 13
In this dual biography of Bronson and his famous daughter, John Matteson draws on the wealth of writings, including personal journals and letters, of the Alcott family to illuminate not just two lives but their changing relationship. Matteson does occasionally venture a little too far in his surmising (I noted a passage where he took Louisa's love for Jane Eyre as potentially linked to her fascination with the idea of mental health being hereditary), and tends to see a lot more autobiography in Louisa's fiction that I thought was perhaps warranted. Still, this well-researched, Pulitzer-prize winning book is a thorough and entertaining read, illuminating these two fascinating people in light of their relationship which each other. Born on the same day 33 years apart and dying within days of each other, Bronson and Louisa may not have always seen eye to eye, but they clearly loved each other and grew in mutual respect over the years. Well worth reading for anyone interested in literary history, Massachusetts history, or Transcendentalists.… (more)