David Yaffe

David Yaffe was born in Dallas, TX and received his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and his Ph.D. in English from the CUNY Graduate Center.  He is the author of Fascinating Rhythm: Reading Jazz in American Writing (Princeton, 2006) and has two other books under contract: The Many Roads of Bob Dylan (Yale, forthcoming) and Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell (FSG, forthcoming).   He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on 20th  and 21st Century American fiction, poetry, music, and performance.  He is a music critic for The Nation and has also written for Slate, The New York Times, New York, The Village Voice, The New Republic, Bookforum, The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, and other publications.

Areas of supervision: 20th and 21st century American fiction and poetry; interdisciplinary studies, especially the intersections of music and literature; creative nonfiction; biography and autobiography; the book review; the essay; public intellectuals; jazz and rock criticism.