Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography

by Milton Meltzer

Presents an in-depth look at the life of the author of "Twice-Told Tales," "The Scarlet Letter," and "The House of Seven Gables."

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

160 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Milton Meltzer wrote 110 books, five of which were nominated for the National Book Award. With Langston Hughes, he co-authored A Pictorial History of Black Americans, now in its sixth edition. He received the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contribution to children's literature, the 1986 Jane Addams Peace Association Children's Book Award, and the 2000 Regina Medal. He died in New York City of esophageal cancer at age 94.

Reviews

[Pam]

This is part of a series of small biographies of famous U.S. authors. It’s so short that it can be read in one sitting. I previously read a travel/memoir that Hawthorne wrote about his time in France and Italy. I don’t see any discrepancies regarding Hawthorne’s time in Europe. Meltzer begins at the beginning naturally. Hawthorne was a native of Salem MA, born on the 4th of July 1804. His relatives there went back to the Puritan period 200 years previously. You get to hear about Nathaniel’s difficulties trying to reconcile his beliefs with his ancestors who had strong associations with the witch persecutions and religious intolerance of those times. No wonder he wrote such dark subjects. Being a friend of Transcendentalists, Utopian types, failed politicians (Franklin Pierce) and idealists of various sorts didn’t help calm his nature. Poor man. He even took unpopular Civil War views.

Photographs and drawings helped this little book quite a bit. Meltzer didn’t give much information on his writings. Definitely a weakness of the book.

[Saleena Longmuir]

I like to read educational works sometimes, so grabbed this on a whim.
Meltzer does a good job of bringing Hawthorne's life into focus; but unfortunately the edition I read had so many editing mistakes it really detracted from the book. Hopefully subsequent editions have fixed the errors because it was really rife with obvious mistake made throughout the book.

[George Dimitrov]

Very dry and uneventful. This book deals only with N. Hawthorn constant struggle to secure his finances .