 After his studies at the University of Virginia, he taught at the Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, at Temple University, and at the University of Pennsylvania; and then undertook graduate studies at the University of Michigan.From 1992 to 2001, he taught expository writing in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, where he also edited non-fiction for the "Harvard Review".While at Harvard he became involved in education reform as a consultant to the Massachusetts Board of Education, helping to reshape curriculum frameworks and assessment in English Language Arts.