Legal Writing Prof Wins Pulitzer
Good things happen when lawyers write, especially when they write well!
Legal writing Prof. John Matteson obviously has done just that, as his biography of Louisa May Alcott, Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father. was named as one of the best books of 2007 by both the Christian Science Monitor and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
B ut wait - there's more. 
Prof. Matteson has received the Pulitzer Prize in the Biography category for Eden's Outcasts.
Published by W.W. Norton & Co, the book's blurb states:
The beloved author of Little Women was torn between pleasing her idealistic father and planting her feet in the material world.
Louisa May Alcott's name is known universally. Yet, during her youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher, lecturer, and admired friend of Emerson and Thoreau. Willful and exuberant, Louisa flew in the face of all her father's intricate theories of child rearing. She, in turn, could not understand the frugal life Bronson preached, one that reached its epitome in the failed utopian community of Fruitlands. In a family that insisted on self-denial and spiritual striving, Louisa dreamed of wealth and fame. At the same time, like most daughters, she wanted her father's approval. As her father struggled to recover from a breakdown and slowly resurrect his career, Louisa learned to support her family, teaching if she must, but finally finding her vocation in writing. This story of their tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.
Matteson is an associate professor of literature and legal writing at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He has a JD from Harvard and a doctoratein English from Columbia. He will serve as a consultant and on-air commentator for a forthcoming PBS documentary on Louisa May Alcott.
