Leo Braudy has taught at Yale, Colum­bia, Johns Hop­kins, and the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia. His books include Jean Renoir, The World in a Frame, The Fren­zy of Renown: Fame and Its His­to­ry, and From Chival­ry to Ter­ror­ism: War and the Chang­ing Nature of Mas­culin­i­ty. Try­ing To Be Cool is his trib­ute to the world in which he grew up.