"From Emma Lazarus to Allen Ginsberg and beyond, Jewish American poets' reactions to Whitman have been intense and nuanced, and formative of some of our country's most impressive and influential literature. In this compact, long-overdue study, Barnat shows how these poets and others, have interpreted Whitman as 'implicitly Jewish' and in doing so redefined Whitman, themselves, and the American poetic tradition."--Matt Miller, coeditor, Every Hour, Every Atom: A Collection of Walt Whitman's Early Notebooks and Fragments

"In Barnat's highly readable, well-researched account, the enduring affinity between Jewish poets and Whitman becomes a prism through which to understand the history of Jewish American poetry itself. A welcome and timely contribution to the ongoing conversation about the remaking of Jewish culture and identity in the United States."--Julian Levinson, author, Exiles on Main Street: Jewish American Writers and American Literary Culture

"The arrival of this virtuosic study is surely cause for celebration. Barnat brilliantly illuminates the rich tapestry of complex intersections between America's 'Bard of Democracy' and generations of significant Jewish American poets whom he inspired and provoked. Truly groundbreaking, it is an indispensable gift to scholars of Whitman and Jewish literature alike."--Ranen Omer-Sherman, author, Imagining the Kibbutz: Visions of Utopia in Literature and Film