William Hazlitt, b. 1778. Journalist, essayist, Shakespearean scholar. He wrote many books, including Characters of Shakespeare and A View of the English Stage.
“If we wish to know the force of human genius, we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning, we may study his commentators.”

Matthew Calbraith Perry, b. 1794. US Navy commodore who negotiated the first treaty between the United States and Japan in 1854. The 1986 Newbery Honor book, Commodore Perry in the land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg, is a great introduction to this historical episode.

Lew Wallace, b. 1827. Civil War general, Governor of New Mexico Territory, Ambassador to Turkey, and author of Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

Third paragraph of Ben Hur: “Judged by his appearance, he was quite forty-five years old. His beard, once of the deepest black, flowing broadly over his breast, was streaked with white. His face was brown as a parched coffee-berry, and so hidden by a red kufiyeh (as the kerchief of the head is at this day called by the children of the desert) as to be but in part visible. Now and then he raised his eyes, and they were large and dark. He was clad in the flowing garments so universal in the East; but their style may not be described more particularly, for he sat under a miniature tent, and rode a great white dromedary.” Does anyone know what Biblical character is being described in this paragraph?

William Booth, b. 1829. He and his wife Catherine founded the Salvation Army, a Christian ministry to feed, clothe, and evangelize the poor.
“In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.” William Booth

Joseph Pulitzer, b. 1847, d.1911. Hungarian American journalist and newspaper publisher. He left in his will an endowment to create the Columbia School of Journalism, and Columbia began in 1917 to award annual prizes for journalism, letters, fiction, drama, and education. Last year I looked at this list of Pulitzer-prize winning novels and counted the ones I’ve read: 12 out of 80. (Eight of the years say “No Award.” I wonder why.) Now I’ve read 14 and a half out of 81.

1919 The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. Read in 2006. Semicolon review here.
1921 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton
1925 So Big Edna Ferber
1928 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
1932 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck
1937 Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
1939 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
1940 The Grapes Of Wrath John Steinbeck
1947 All the King’s Men Robert Penn Warren I read this one over my blog break and thought it was quite a reflection on depression-era Louisiana and the life and legacy of Huey Long. Scroll down for a review.
1952 The Caine Mutiny Herman B. Wouk
1953 The Old Man And The Sea Ernest Hemingway
1961 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
1975 The Killer Angels Michael Shaara
1986 Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry This book constitutes the “half” in fourteen and a half. Actually, I don’t think I read quite half. Unappreciative Semicolon review here.
2005 Gilead Marilynne Robinson

So how many Pulitzer prize winning novels have you read, and which ones do you recommend? I recommend all of the above except the Hemingway and the Steinbeck and of course, Lonesome Larry’s Texas opus.