William
Barrett, who
died in 1992, was an
editor of the Partisan
Review, literary critic for
Atlantic Monthly, and philoso-
phy professor at Chicago, Brown
and for many years at NYU. He is
best known for Irrational Man, a
classic study of existentialism wide-
ly used in colleges, and The Tru-
ants: Adventures Among the Intel-
lectuals a memoir and leading
chronicle of post-WW II intel-
lectual life in New York. He is
one of the most readable
American writers on
philosophy.