 He wrote 100 essays on books for "The Hudson Review" and published five collections of his essays on books and writers.He also wrote for "The New York Review of Books" and "Harper's".As a teacher at UCSB, he ranked as an instructor from 1949 to 1951, an assistant professor from 1951 to 1957, an associate professor from 1957 to 1963, a full professor from 1963 to 1986, and the provost of the College of Creative Studies from 1967 to 1984.