About John P. Marquand
John Phillips Marquand was an American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a Pulitzer Prize for The Late George Apley in 1938. One of his abiding themes was the confining nature of life in America's upper class and among those who aspired to join it. Marquand treated those whose lives were bound by these unwritten codes with a characteristic mix of respect and satire. Marquand attended Newburyport High School, where he won a scholarship that enabled him to attend Harvard College, where his family had a long tradition of attendance. In 1925, Marquand published his first book, Lord Timothy Dexter, an exploration of the life and legend of 18th-century Newburyport eccentric Timothy Dexter (1763–1806). The first of these novels, The Late George Apley (1937), a satire of Boston's upper class, won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1938.
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