Matthew Pearl (born October 2, 1975) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and educator. His novels include ''

The Dante Club ''The Dante Club'' is a mystery novel by Matthew Pearl and his debut work, set amidst a series of murders in the American Civil War era. It also concerns a club of poets, including such historical figures as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wen ...

'', '' The Poe Shadow'', ''

The Last Dickens ''The Last Dickens'' is a novel by Matthew Pearl published by Random House. It is a work of historical and literary fiction. The novel is a Washington Post Critics' Pick. It contains some characters from ''The Dante Club''. Plot summary The novel ...

'', '' The Technologists'', and '' The Last Bookaneer''.

Biography

Pearl was born in New York City and grew up in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, where he graduated from the

University School of Nova Southeastern University The NSU University School, commonly known as University School or simply U-School, is a fully accredited, independent, college preparatory school in Davie, Florida, that serves grades pre-K through grade 12. The school is located on the Nova South ...

(NSU), a

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

school. He earned degrees from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

. He currently resides in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. In 1998, Pearl won the Dante Award from the Dante Society of America for his undergraduate essay, ''Dante in Transit: Emerson’s Lost Role as Dantean.''

Bibliography

'' was published in 2003. His second novel, a historical thriller about the

death of Edgar Allan Poe The death of Edgar Allan Poe on October 7, 1849, has remained mysterious. The circumstances leading up to the final days of Edgar Allan Poe are uncertain, and the cause of death is disputed. On October 3, the American author was found delirious i ...

called ''The Poe Shadow'', was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in the United States in 2007. His third novel, ''

'', was published in the United States in 2009. ''The Technologists'', a mystery alternative-history thriller set in the early years of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, was published in the United States in 2012. Other works include ''The Professor's Assassin'' (2011), ''The Last Bookaneer'' (2015), ''Ginnifer'' (short story) (2016), and ''The Dante Chamber'' (2018) In 2021, Pearl published his first nonfiction book ''The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America, '' published by

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

References

External links

Official author site
* 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from New York (state) Living people Harvard College alumni Yale University alumni Yale Law School alumni 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts NSU University School alumni 1975 births {{US-novelist-1970s-stub