George Scialabba was born (1948) and raised in East Boston, MA, and attended Harvard (AB, 1969) and Columbia (MA, 1972). He has been a social worker (Mass. Dept. of Public Welfare, 1974-80), a clerical worker (Harvard University, 1980 to the present), a faculty member of the Bennington Graduate Writing Seminars (2007-8), and a freelance book critic. His column, "New Thinking," appears bimonthly in the Boston Globe book section. In 1991 he was awarded the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing of the National Book Critics Circle. He is the author of FOR THE REPUBLIC: POLITICAL ESSAYS (Pressed Wafer, 2013), THE MODERN PREDICAMENT (Pressed Wafer, 2011), the widely hailed WHAT ARE INTELLECTUALS GOOD FOR? (Pressed Wafer, 2009), and Divided Mind (Arrowsmith Press, 2006).