born Dec. 8, 1913, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.
died July 11, 1966, New York, N.Y.
U.S. poet, short-story writer, and critic.
He taught at Harvard and other schools and was an editor of Partisan Review (194355). His works include In Dreams Begin Responsibilities (1939), consisting of a short story and poetry; Shenandoah (1941), a verse play; and The World Is a Wedding (1948) and Successful Love (1961), collections of short stories dealing primarily with middle-class Jewish family life. His work is noted for its lyrical descriptions of cultural alienation and the search for identity. Brilliant but unstable, he became alcoholic and declined into insanity.