Asa Greene is known today primarily as an early New England satirist and humorist whose works were antecedent to more skillful humorous antebellum regional writings of the East and Old Southwest. Walter Blair cites the publication of Greene's first three books as one of the most important mileposts in the development of native American humor between 1825 and 1833.

Asa Greene (spelled "Green" prior to his college days) was born in Ashby, Massachusetts, the third son of nine children of Oliver and Dorothy Hildreth Green. His father was a farmer and tanner, and Asa recognized the value of a formal education. After early schooling at home and perhaps at Westford Academy, he attended Williams College, where he earned a reputation as a poet and wit before being awarded a bachelor of arts degree in 1813.

Virtually nothing is known about Greene's life for the next nine years. In 1822 he graduated with...