John Matteson

John Matteson is an American professor of English and legal writing at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, best known for winning the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his book Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father.[1][2] Born in San Mateo, California, he earned an A.B. in history from Princeton University in 1983, a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1986, and a Ph.D. in English from Columbia University in 1999, after which he transitioned from a legal career to academia and biography writing.[1][2][5] His works include The Lives of Margaret Fuller, which won the Ann M. Sperber Prize, and A Worse Place Than Hell: How the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg Changed a Nation, published in 2021.[1][4]