The Scarlet Professor: Newton Arvin: A Literary Life Shattered by Scandal

Newton Arwin isn't a very sympathetic character, but this biography illuminates his life in a very sympathetic way. I think that Arwin's tragedy was not that he was homosexual in a time and place where such behavior was not tolerated, but that he seemed to be incapable of love.

Newton Arwin was a literary critic, specializing in 19th century American authors and a professor at Smith College. In addition, he helped make Yaddo one of the premiere literary colonies in the United States. He was also a closeted gay man in the United States during the 1950s, which led to problems with both the McCarthy hearings and with pornography charges. He suffered from serious depression all his life.

Werth deftly handles these myriad aspects of Arwin's life, making his contributions to American literary criticism clear, interesting the reader in the communities at both Yaddo and Smith, writing compellingly about the 50s paranoia, and evoking sympathy for Arwin's psychological problems.

There was a period in the late 50s where show more there's not much to talk about except Arwin's bouts of depression and trips to mental hospitals. I got somewhat bored and frustrated here, as I tend to in biographies when someone is in a morass and unable to move beyond it. However, reading about the obscenity trials and their aftermath was worth getting through the slow part. show less

Beautifully written biography. Absolutely engrossing.