He is the author of (Princeton, 2006) and (Yale, 2011). He is currently at work on Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, forthcoming).  He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on 20th  and 21st Century American fiction, poetry, music, and creative nonfiction.  He is a music critic for The Nation and has also written for Harper’s, Slate, The New York Times, New York, The Village Voice, The New Republic, Bookforum, The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, and other publications.