Reuven Ben-Yosef (1937-2001) was born Robert Eliot Reiss to an assimilated Jewish family in New York. He switched from writing English poetry to Hebrew poetry after his immigration to Israel in 1959. In this edited volume, Weingrad includes expertly translated poems and an extensive, fascinating introduction that helps us see Ben-Yosef's personal poetry as part of a larger family story.

Michael Weingrad is associate professor of Judaic studies at Portland State University. He is the author of American Hebrew Literature: Writing Jewish National Identity in the United States.