Poet, critic, editor, satirist, and playwright, Howard Moss has established himself as one of the most important figures in American letters during the second half of the twentieth century. In his wideranging critical essays, from his editorial office at the New Yorker, and throughout his generally traditional volumes of poetry, his practice and opinion have provided a benchmark in creativity for poets for over three decades.

Howard Moss was born in New York City and grew up in Rockaway Beach in the borough of Queens. His parents were David Leonard and Sonya Schrag Moss; his father immigrated to the United States from Lithuania. Moss attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1939-1940; but he transferred to the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1940 and received his B.A. from there in 1944. His other formal education included a summer at Harvard University in 1942 and postgraduate work at...