John P. Marquand

John P. Marquand was a prominent American author, best known for his spy thriller, mystery, and literary fiction novels. He was born in 1893 and passed away in 1960. Marquand received his education at Harvard University and held an editorial position at the Harvard Lampoon before graduating in 1915. He then worked for the Boston Evening Transcript and served in the military unit that was sent to the Mexican border in 1916. Prior to becoming a novelist, Marquand worked as an advertising copywriter. His first novel, "The Unspeakable Gentleman," marked the beginning of his career as a novelist.

Marquand was a highly respected and celebrated author of spy and satirical stories during his lifetime. He explored significant themes and ideas, such as class and its role in American society, in his works. Marquand was known for his keen eye for character and his profound insight into American values and what drove people. His ability to combine respect and satire in his portrayal of those whose lives were bound by the unwritten codes of America's upper class made him a popular and critically acclaimed author. Marquand won the Pulitzer Prize for Novel in 1938 for his novel "The Late George Apley."

Marquand's writing career took off in the mid-1930s, and he became a prolific and successful writer of fiction for slick magazines like the Saturday Evening Post. Some of his short stories were historical in nature, similar to his first two novels. However, Marquand later abandoned this style, which he referred to as "costume fiction." In the late 1930s, Marquand began writing a series of novels that explored the dilemmas of class, most of which were set in New England. His novel "The Late George Apley" won the Pulitzer Prize for Novel in 1938 and was a satire of Boston's upper class. Other notable works by Marquand that explore New England and class themes include "Wickford Point," "H.M. Pulham, Esquire," and "Point of No Return."