Among American critics of the twentieth century, Lionel Trilling was especially illuminating, subtle, and wise. His consummate intelligence, which found its most congenial expression in the poise and discernment of his essays, earned an admiration that is likely to endure even if the influence of his particular judgments and opinions were to fade. He was also a minor novelist and writer of short stories.

Born in New York City and educated in the public schools there, Trilling was the son of Orthodox Jewish immigrant parents. His father, David Trilling, was a tailor and a furrier; and his mother, Fannie Cohen Trilling, had been born in England, a country whose culture was to exert a lifelong fascination for Trilling himself. Middle-class in its ideals and aspirations, his family spoke English at home and felt at ease in Gentile society, according to Diana Rubin Trilling, whom he married in 1929. (They...