born Aug. 24, 1898, Belsano, Pa., U.S.
died March 27, 1989, New Milford, Conn.
U.S. literary critic and social historian.
He was educated at Harvard and in France. As literary editor of the New Republic (1929–44), he took part in many Depression-era literary and political battles, usually on the leftist side. He revived the reputation of William Faulkner with The Portable Faulkner (1946). His books include Exile's Return (1934), a history of expatriate American writers; The Literary Situation (1954), on the role of writers in society; and the collections Think Back on Us (1967) and A Many-Windowed House (1970).