Beecher bio wins Pulitzer

The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, by Debby Applegate (Doubleday) has won the 2006 Pulitzer for biography.

In case you were wondering, here's how to win a Pulitzer:

Debby Applegate has written a highly readable story of Henry Ward Beecher. Biography is most successful in the hands of a good storyteller. Applegate knows how to spin a tale - H-Net

It is a riveting story with a larger-than-life protagonist who was sensational both in his celebrity and in his flaws. - Amherst Magazine

The book contains reference notes and a bibliography. - Twain Web.

Good thing the prize committee didn't notice this last item:

At times, however, her narrative loses its force in a thicket of personal details. [...] She also rushes through the story of the notoriously complex adultery trial, leeching it of the theatrical qualities that captivated newspaper readers at the time. - International Herald Tribune