Thomas Cooley's research interests include American literature and culture, especially of the nineteenth century. He is the author of the books The Ivory Leg in the Ebony Cabinet: Madness, Race, and Gender in Victorian America; Educated Lives: The Rise of Modern Autobiography in America and The Norton Guide to Writing. He has published articles on American literature and culture and served as editor of The Norton Critical Edition of Huckleberry Finn (3rd ed.), The Norton Sampler and Back to the Lake: A Reader for Writers.