Christopher Benfey taught in the Mount Holyoke English Department for three decades. He is a recognized scholar of MHC alum Emily Dickinson. Benfey has published five books on the American Gilded Age. He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and The New York Times Sunday Book Review. Benfey lives in Amherst with his wife, writer Mickey Rathbun, and their dog, Luisa.