Leithauser, Brad 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born February 27, 1953, in Detroit, MI; son of Harold Edward (an attorney) and Gladys (a professor and author) Leithauser; married Mary Jo Salter (a writer), August 2, 1980; two daughters. Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1975, J.D., 1980.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Mount Holyoke College, 50 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075.

CAREER:

Poet, novelist. Kyoto Comparative Law Center, Kyoto, Japan, research fellow, 1980-83. Visiting writer, Amherst College, 1984-85. Lecturer, Mount Holyoke College, 1987-88, 1990. Fulbright Fellow, University of Iceland, 1989—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Academy of American Poets prize from Harvard University for best poems by an undergraduate, 1973, 1975; Lloyd McKim Garrison Prize for best poems by a Harvard University undergraduate, 1974, 1975; Amy Lowell travel scholarship in poetry, 1981-82; Guggenheim fellowship, 1982-83; National Book Critics Circle poetry nominations for Hundreds of Fireflies, 1982, and Cats of the Temple, 1986; Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from Academy of American Poets, 1983; MacArthur Foundation research fellow, 1983-87, Fulbright Fellowship, 1989.

WRITINGS:

The Line of Ladies (short stories), privately printed, 1975.

Hundreds of Fireflies (poems), Knopf (New York, NY), 1982.

Equal Distance (novel), Knopf (New York, NY), 1985.

Cats of the Temple (poems), Knopf (New York, NY), 1986.

Between Leaps: Poems, 1972-85 (poems), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1987.

Hence (novel), Knopf (New York, NY), 1989.

The Mail from Anywhere (poems), Knopf (New York, NY), 1990.

Seward (novel), Knopf (New York, NY), 1993.

(Editor) The Norton Book of Ghost Stories, Norton (New York, NY), 1994.

Penchants and Places: Essays and Criticisms (essays), Knopf (New York, NY), 1995.

(Editor and author of introduction) Randall Jarrell No Other Book: Selected Essays, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995, 2nd edition, 1999.

The Friends of Freeland (novel), Knopf (New York, NY), 1997.

The Odd Last Thing She Did, Knopf (New York, NY), 1998.

A Few Corrections, Knopf (New York, NY), 2001.

Darlington's Fall: A Novel in Verse, Knopf (New York, NY), 2002.

Lettered Creatures: Light Verse, D.R. Godine (Boston, MA), 2004.

Curves and Angles: Poems, Knopf (New York, NY), 2006.

Toad to a Nightingale: Light Verse, David R. Godine (Jaffrey, NH), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals and newspapers, including New Yorker, Atlantic, New Republic, and the New York Review of Books.

SIDELIGHTS:

Formerly a lawyer, Brad Leithauser has achieved acclaim as a poet and novelist. He is recognized as a notable figure on the American poetry scene in general and a primary figure among the New Formalists poets. Two of his poetry collections, Hundreds of Fireflies and Cats of the Temple, were nominated for National Book Critics Circle awards in 1982 and 1986 respectively, and Leithauser's writing has already garnered an array of prestigious commendations, including the Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets and a MacArthur Foundation research fellowship. In the opinion of New York Times critic John Gross, Leithauser's Cats of the Temple makes it "clear that [Leithauser] is one of the most gifted American poets to have come over the horizon in years."

Reviewer descriptions of Leithauser's first poetry collection, Hundreds of Fireflies, include such adjectives as "meticulous," "mature," "calculated," "exhilarating," "exuberant," "sensuous," and "life-affirming." According to Bruce Bennett in the New York Times Book Review, the hallmark of Hundreds of Fireflies is "meticulous examination of particulars," like those found in nature—its landscapes, its creatures, its rebirths. In fact, various reviewers compared Leithauser's poetry to that of Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, and others. Helen Vender noted in the New York Review of Books that Leithauser has "learned from Marianne Moore a form of compressed emblem description, from Elizabeth Bishop an unassuming visual scanning, from Robert Frost a love of rural scenes, from A.R. Ammons a telling use of modesty of voice, and from James Merrill a worldly form of narrative verse. These lessons have been assimilated beyond pastiche, on the whole, and have been brought into a tone distinguished by its mildness. Mildness is in fact Leithauser's chief personal form of stylization. Mild poets are rare." In addition, Washington Post Book World contributor Joel Conarroe believed Leithauser's poem "Giant Tortoise" is a homage to Moore while "Birches" is one to Frost. But Hundreds of Fireflies "is no mere echo chamber," assured Conarroe: "Leithauser has a distinctive voice, an altogether appealing one."

One aspect that sets Leithauser's Hundreds of Fireflies apart from most contemporary verse is its formal structure. Leithauser counts every syllable and employs complex rhyming schemes. In the New Boston Review, Sven Birkerts commented that Hundreds of Fireflies "is an overtly formal book…. Leithauser's work is proof that the heritage of formal verse is more arsenal than obstacle, that the problem, where there is a problem, lies not in the rigidity of the forms but in the rigidity of their user. Here is a clear case of a supple and subtle intellect deriving maximum benefit from its interaction with formal strictures. The maturity of these poems is to some extent derived from the maturity of poetic form itself." In a similar respect, Poetry critic Robert B. Shaw declared: "There must be very few poets as young as Leithauser in such absolute command of their instrument. In particular his handling of rhyme, sometimes in extremely intricate patterns, is remarkable in avoiding distortion of diction or syntax." Criticism of Leithauser's Hundreds of Fireflies is sparse and minor; on the whole, wrote New Leader reviewer Phoebe Pettingell, "this is an exciting debut from an ambitious and brilliant poet." In 1987 a collection of Leithauser's poetry was published in Britain that drew from "Hundreds of Fireflies" and "A Seaside Mountain," poems Leithauser wrote while residing in Japan.

A few years after Hundreds of Fireflies, Leithauser published his first novel, Equal Distance. Although considered by some reviewers to be short on plot and characterization, the book is nevertheless rich in detail, perceptions, and poetic prose. In the novel, protagonist Danny Ott takes a year off from his Harvard law studies to live in Japan. He goes there to assist a Japanese professor with a study on international law, but also to learn more of life. Kunio Francis Tanabe wrote in the Washington Post Book World that Equal Distance is, "in many ways, a sequel to [a poem in Hundreds of Fireflies]—a young man's search for the big S (something, someone, somewhere)—and, as in the poem, the writing is sprightly, sprinkled throughout with wit and humor, and a delight to read…. As this first novel shows clearly, Leithauser is on the right track toward something BIG." The novel also impressed New York Times critic Christopher Lehmann-Haupt. He called Equal Distance a "remarkable first novel. For rarely does one come across a work of fiction so singular for the variety of pungent flavors it succeeds in conveying—the flavors of food, of drink, of travel, of nature, of friendship, of family, of youth, of love and most particularly of contemporary Kyoto, Japan…. It is the flavors of Equal Distance that make it such a pleasure to read."

In 1986, Leithauser published his second major collection of poetry, Cats of the Temple, to critical acclaim. These new poems resemble Hundreds of Fireflies in their focus on nature, frequent use of internal and external rhyme, and their polished, elaborate imagery. However, the setting of Cats of the Temple is more global, with several poems set in Japan. Gross argued that the collection shows an extended range when compared to Hundreds of Fireflies and that the poet displays "[a] keen delight in language, in disclosing its hidden recesses and its unrealized powers … Leithauser's observations are wonderfully meticulous and precise. Whether he is evoking flora or fauna, landscapes or incidents, he will settle for nothing less than the distinctive gesture, the exact nature."

Published in 1989, Leithauser's second novel Hence is set four years in the future in 1993. As New York Times Book Review reviewer Laura Shapiro noted, the settings of Boston and Cambridge resemble their 1980s form "only more so." The novel, which is about a highly publicized chess match between Timothy Briggs and a computer named ANDY, is narrated by Timothy's brother Garner Briggs. Within Leithauser's novel Hence is another book titled Hence: A Meditation of Voices, supposedly written by Garner in 1997, and preceded by an introduction set in 2025. Washington Post Book World critic Curt Suplee described the novel as "a disjunctive narrative montage in which the core story … is seen from so many multiple viewpoints and layered levels of awareness that it becomes finally a complex mediation on the meaning of the tale, a meta-narrative reflecting ceaselessly on itself in a Borgesian hall of mirrors." Critics such as Los Angeles Times Book Review writer Charles Solomon argued that the plot is too dense and complex, with too many subplots and twists, but Leithauser is skillfully satirical. Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Douglas Seibold suggested the book would have benefitted from more focus on the characters and less "narrative gymnastics."

In his third poetry collection The Mail from Anywhere, published in 1990, Leithauser again relies on an intensely formal structure with emphasis on stanza, internal and external rhyme and meter. Again, critics noted his highly polished style, however critic John Lucas, writing in the New Statesman and Society, argued that this highly stylized form limits rather than enhances the poetry. Washington Post Book World critic Anthony Thwaite lamented Leithauser's misuse of his obvious talent, arguing that these poems do not rise to the level of intelligence and skill that the poet exhibited in his first two collections. However, writing in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Robert Darling stated that this volume "seems to be a clear development in Leithauser's poetic growth. Humanity is present in this book in a fashion not evident in the previous collection."

Seward, Leithauser's third novel, centers on Terry Seward, a dutiful, driven, but emotionless high-powered lawyer who is groping to adapt to life after his wife's drowning. When he encounters his wife's ghost in a deserted Virginia cabin he is propelled into a search for an explanation, thus encountering unusual characters. Through his struggle to determine if the vision was supernatural or a product of his psyche, he reexamines his own life and reorders it. Critics such as New York Times contributor Rosellen Brown and Washington Post Book World contributor Jonathan Carroll argued that while Leithauser has created an arresting problem, posing important questions, the author fails to provide adequate answers to them or to even fully intrigue the reader. Susan Heeger, contributor to the Los Angeles Times Book Review had a more favorable reaction. She praised the novelist's use of narratives and dialogue to slowly develop the story, arguing that Leithauser "craft(s) a narrative that's funny and perceptive and unpretentious while taking a fresh look at some of life's big questions."

Penchants and Places: Essays and Criticisms, a volume of essays and criticism, covers subjects as variant as Thomas Pynchon's Vineland to Leithauser's journeys in Japan and Iceland. Many of them reprinted, these essays received favorable criticism. In a review comparing the author's essays to those of Louis Auchincloss, E.L. Doctorow, and Edmund White, Sewanee Review critic Earl Rovit found Leithauser "highly intelligent, professional and conventionally learned. He also has a genuinely quirky mind and an openness to areas of inquiry that are unexpected in a poet [and] novelist."

Critical reactions to Leithauser's fourth novel The Friends of Freeland was mixed. The novel is set in a mythical country comprised of four arctic Islands in the North Atlantic, closely resembling Iceland, where the author lived for two years. The novel centers on president Hannibal Hannibalsson and his efforts to protect Freeland culture.

Leithauser returns to poetry with his fourth collection, The Odd Last Thing She Did. As with his earlier works, he maintains a strict adherence to structure, meter, and rhyming patterns. He tackles emotional subjects, mostly seeded in relationships and love, but some referencing gratitude or despair. Stephen Whited, in a review for Book, referred to Leithauser's steady beats and rhythms and his ability to write "with an uncanny ear for rhyming music." In a review for Publishers Weekly, a contributor commented that "readers for whom old-fashioned versification holds the glamour of a doomed cause will continue to applaud Leithauser's workmanship."

Darlington's Fall: A Novel in Verse takes a new approach, combining two genres in which Leithauser has been fairly productive: poetry and fiction. He offers readers a historical journey with his protagonist, Russel Darlington, just a boy of seven when the novel-length poem begins at the tail end of the nineteenth century. Chasing a toad, Russel becomes fascinated by natural sciences and immerses himself in learning as much as he can. His fascination is timely, as it gives him something else to think about following the death of his mother. Butterflies eventually become his obsession, one that leads Russel to meet prominent scientists, attend college, and to become involved in the organization of a great hall of natural sciences, as well as writing his own text book. The book caught the attention of critics for its unusual format and distinctive style, and the New York Times included it in their list of notable books for 2002. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly indicated concern about this structure, commenting: "Though Leithauser's latest is more accessible than its form might suggest, it lacks the sense of urgency and invention that" would draw a reader in for the length of the work. Phoebe Pettingell, in a review for the New Leader, remarked that "the book is definitely a page-turner; the author's artful plotting holds the reader's curiosity. The period details are wonderfully convincing, particularly regarding intellectual trends." She declared the book "a philosophical novel about the way individuals reconcile their dreams with the vicissitudes of living in a universe where they are not pampered darlings—the focal points of creation—but tiny cells in a vast, randomly developing organism." Booklist contributor Donna Seaman remarked upon how the book reveals "Leithauser's keen perceptions into life's ruthlessness and beauty, fascination with science, and sheer pleasure in language." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews referred to Leithauser's effort as "a pleasant hybrid no matter how you look at it," as well as "a fine, quiet, and rewarding portrait, written in fluid verse that is both unobtrusive and elegant."

With Curves and Angles: Poems, Leithauser returns once again to a standard collection of poetry. Along with his own poetry, he offers a section of translations from great works, such as writings by Jorge Luis Borges. These adaptations serve the purpose of illustration the difficulty of beginning a new language, offering a stretching of the brain that makes it more nimble and useful. He also taps into other mediums, using visuals and musical references to pull readers in and force them to access all of their senses. The book is structured to grow less emotional, more staid as it progresses. A Publishers Weekly reviewer stated that "Leithauser may not be his generation's most ambitious poet, but at his best he can make old forms sing anew." Ned Balbo, in a contribution for the Antioch Review, cited Leithauser for his "broad, compassionate vision, fused with attention to detail both descriptive and linguistic." In a Library Journal review, Fred Muratori welcomed Leithauser's return to his more lyric style from before Darlington's Fall, and referred to it as "what may be Leithauser's most satisfying collection in years."

Leithauser has written a number of other books, as well, both poetry and prose, including A Few Corrections and Toad to a Nightingale: Light Verse. In addition, he served as editor for and provided the introduction to Randall Jarrell's No Other Book: Selected Essays.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 27, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1984.

Contemporary Poets, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 120: American Poets since World War II, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1992.

PERIODICALS

Antioch Review, spring, 2007, Ned Balbo, review of Curves and Angles: Poems.

Book, September, 2000, Stephen Whited, review of The Odd Last Thing She Did, p. 84.

Booklist, March 15, 2002, Donna Seaman, review of Darlington's Fall: A Novel in Verse, p. 1205.

Chicago Tribune, February 5, 1989, Douglas Seibold, review of Hence.

Library Journal, October 1, 2006, Fred Muratori, review of Curves and Angles, p. 77.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, March 25, 1990, Charles Solomon, review of Hence; June 27, 1993, Susan Heeger, review of Seward.

New Boston Review, June, 1982, Sven Birkerts, review of Hundreds of Fireflies, p. 29.

New Leader, March 1, 2002, Phoebe Pettingell, "Leithauser's Reconciliations," p. 29.

New Statesman and Society, November 30, 1990, John Lucas, review of The Mail from Anywhere, pp. 35-36.

New York Review of Books, September 23, 1982, Helen Vender, review of Hundreds of Fireflies, p. 41.

New York Times, January 3, 1985, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Equal Distance, p. 30; March 21, 1986, John Gross, review of Cats of the Temple, p. 25.

New York Times Book Review, March 14, 1982, Bruce Bennett, review of Hundreds of Fireflies, p. 12; January 22, 1989, Laura Shapiro, review of Hence, p. 1; July 11, 1993, Rosellen Brown, review of Seward, p. 24.

Poetry, December, 1982, Robert B. Shaw, review of Hundreds of Fireflies.

Publishers Weekly, August 31, 1998, review of The Odd Last Thing She Did, p. 71; February 11, 2002, review of Darlington's Fall, p. 160; September 18, 2006, review of Curves and Angles, p. 37.

Sewanee Review, spring, 1996, Earl Rovit, review of Penchants and Places: Essays and Criticisms, pp. 325-329.

Washington Post Book World, February 21, 1982, Joel Conarroe, review of Hundreds of Fireflies; January 13, 1985, Kunio Francis Tanabe, review of Equal Distance; March 26, 1986; January 22, 1989, Curt Suplee, review of Hence, p. 5; December 30, 1990, Anthony Thwaite, review of The Mail from Anywhere, p. 8; June 20, 1993, Jonathan Carroll, review of Seward, p. 4.