Deresiewicz holds a PhD in English from Columbia University, which he also attended for his undergraduate degree. He taught as a graduate assistant at Columbia, and then for 10 years at Yale University. He has written for publications such as the New York Times, the Atlantic, and Harper’s, and his work has been nominated for several awards, including a National Magazine Award. In 2012, he won the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing by the National Book Critics Circle. He has published two other books, Jane Austen and the Romantic Poets and A Jane Austen Education; a new book entitled The Death of the Artist is due out in 2020.

Deresiewicz discusses his own background in the book as an example of going through the system of elite education. He grew up in a household academically focused on science, with a father who was an engineering professor and siblings who worked in medicine. Though he loved writing and literature, he double majored in biology and psychology. Before long, he took to reading novels hidden behind his notebook while attending large, impersonal lectures in his chosen fields. By the time Deresiewicz thought of following his passion, it was too late to change majors.