Berg, Scott W.

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Berg, Scott W.

PERSONAL:

Education: University of Minnesota, B.A.; Miami University of Ohio, M.A.; George Mason University, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Washington, DC. Office—English Department, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., MSN 3E4, Fairfax, VA 22030. E-mail—scottwberg@grandavenues.com; sberg@gmu.edu.

CAREER:

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, creative writing faculty member.

WRITINGS:

Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C., Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Washington Post.

SIDELIGHTS:

Scott W. Berg trained as an architect before becoming a writing teacher. Berg's first book, Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C., reflects his ongoing interest in architecture and civil engineering. It tells the story of Pierre L'Enfant, the French planner who designed the layout of Washington, DC, as it is known today. L'Enfant gained attention as the architect for the Federal Hall in New York, and went on to raise eyebrows with some of his more daring suggestions for the layout of the capitol, including the placement of Congress adjacent to the Potomac River, which was an untouched area at the time, and placing much of the proposed city on swamp land. Writing for the Metroactive Web site, Richard Busack commented: "With admittedly little documentation to go on, Berg silhouettes L'Enfant against the leading lights of his time." Brad Hooper, in a review for Booklist, remarked that "all the wrinkles about both the plan and the man himself are ironed out in this approachable biography." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly declared that "Berg performs sterling service in excavating this little-known story from the archives."