Jay Parini is Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College. A former Guggenheim Fellow and visiting fellow at Christ Church College, Oxford, Parini has published four volumes of poetry, five novels (including The Last Station and Benjamin's Crossing), a critical study of Theodore Roethke, and biographies of John Steinbeck and Robert Frost. The latter won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Award for the best work of nonfiction in 1999. He has also edited numerous volumes, including The Norton Anthology of American Autobiography, The Columbia Anthology of American Poetry, and The Columbia History of American Poetry.

Parini's prose, like his poetry, is fluid and generous. As a working poet, he is able to distill to its essences his subjects'work. These essays are imminently approachable. American Book Review Eloquent, clear and learned, without being pedantic, these essays provide a voyage into delight. Publishers Weekly Parini's book is a find; it is large enough to speak authoritatively on poetry and poetics, but intimate enough to linger on the language. Virginia Quarterly Review