"Modern American literature was born in protest, born in rebellion, born out of the sense of loss and indirection which was imposed upon the new generations out of the realization that the old formal culture-the New England idea-could no longer serve."
Alfred Kazin was an American writer and literary critic whose essays and reviews appeared in leading U.S. publications. He is especially known for memoirs and criticism focused on American and immigrant literary experience. He was born on June 5, 1915, and died on June 5, 1998.