Hawthorne revisited

"Nathaniel Hawthorne's reputation has never faded from his appearance on the literary scene of young America. Two hundred years after his birth he remains one of America's most important and influential writers. In celebration of his bicentennial, this new collection gathers essays by novelists, critics, historians and biographers who explore aspects of Hawthorne's life and work. The writers and subjects here range from Louis Auchincloss and Elizabeth Hardwick on The Scarlet Letter to Paul Auster on Hawthorne's journals and what they reveal about his family life; from Harrison Hayford's previously unpublished exploration of Hawthorne's influence on Melville to Carol Gilligan's account of adapting Hawthorne's work for the stage; from Wendell Garrett's evocation of nineteenth-century Salem to a sample of Hawthorne's own journalism -- "Chiefly About War Matters by a Peaceable Man," written for The Atlantic Monthly in 1862." "This illustrated volume features original cut-paper illustrations by artist Pamela Dalton as well as historic prints, engravings and photographs. In these essays, curators of Hawthorne historical sites explore the influence of physical environment on the writer; biographer Brenda Wineapple examines the author's political views, including his controversial disdain of abolitionists; scholar Michael Gilmore views Hawthorne's relationship to classical truths; journalist and novelist Tom Wicker appraises Hawthorne's skills as a war correspondent and journalist Neil Hickey considers the author's ongoing cultural influence through film and television adaptations of his work. Their varied work provides insights into ways that Hawthorne's work resonates today. He's created for all of us a mirror through which we see our culture darkly and by which we, as Americans, may come to know ourselves and our nation -- insofar as, Hawthorne suggests, this is ever possible. Book jacket."--Jacket.