author
Carl Van Doren
1885–1950
A lively American critic and biographer, he helped bring early American history and literature to a wider audience. He is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning book on Benjamin Franklin and for his warm, readable style.
3 Audiobooks
Contemporary American Novelists (1900-1920)
by Carl Van Doren
Swift
by Carl Van Doren
The roving critic
by Carl Van Doren
About the author
Born in Hope, Illinois, in 1885, Carl Van Doren became an important American man of letters—working as a critic, editor, teacher, and biographer. He studied at the University of Illinois and then earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University, where he later taught English.
Van Doren wrote across several fields, from literary criticism to fiction, but biography became one of his strongest forms. He received the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Benjamin Franklin, a book praised for making a major historical figure feel vivid and human. He was also known for his work on American literature and for helping establish it as a serious subject of study.
He came from a notably literary family: he was the brother of Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. Carl Van Doren died in 1950, leaving behind a body of work that combined scholarship with an accessible, engaging voice.