Studying the friendship between Hawthorne and Pierce as it developed from their college days through their professional lives, Williamson (English, Muskingham College) contends that Pierce played the role of "savior-friend" in Hawthorne's endeavor to be a successful author and that Hawthorne transformed Pierce into a romanticized Jacksonian figure. Williamson concludes that understanding the friendship provides new insight into Hawthorne's artistic method, which depended in part on Hawthorne's admiration for the Jacksonian virtues of patriotism and duty. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)