The Hawthorne depicted by Professor Bell in these pages will be as much of a surprise to many readers as is his appearance in the rare 1847 daguerreotype reproduced on the book-jacket.

Examining the major tragedies, Millicent Bell reveals the persistent strain of philosophical skepticism. Like his contemporary, Montaigne, Shakespeare repeatedly calls attention to the essential unknowability of our world.

The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

The story arouses expectations, proposes courses, then cancels them successively. In complicity with author and character, the reader crafts the story in an adventure of constant revision and anticipation.

From newspaper reporter and advertising copywriter to best- selling novelist, he embodied the American dream of his time.