Mark Simpson

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Mark Simpson is an English journalist, writer, and broadcaster specialising in popular culture, media, and masculinity. Simpson is the originator of the term and concept metrosexual. He has been described by one critic as "the skinhead Oscar Wilde".

Simpson has written for numerous publications around the world, including The Times, The Guardian, Salon.com, Arena Homme +, GQ Style, Vogues Hommes International, The Independent on Sunday, Têtu, the Seattle Stranger, and Dutch Playboy. In December 2007, GQ Russia placed him in their 'Top Ten Things That Changed Men's Lives'.

Simpson is credited with coining the term metrosexual in a 1994 article. He also introduced the word to the U.S. in 'Meet the Metrosexual', a much-quoted essay on Salon.com in 2002, leading to the global popularity of the term. This was also the first citation of the UK footballer David Beckham as the ultimate example of the type. Simpson was later credited with introducing the term 'retrosexual' (in the sense of the anti-metrosexual) in 2003.

The New York Times acclaimed Simpson's analysis of how sport and advertising are both increasingly using homoerotic imagery, in a process he dubbed "sporno" ("the place where sport and porn meet and produce a gigantic money shot") as one of the Ideas of the Year. The Times newspaper also featured sporno in their 'Year in Ideas' list.

In 2010, the global trend spotting website Science of the Time described Simpson as 'the world's most perceptive writer about masculinity'. The Times of India included 'metrosexual' in their review of the most important words of the last thirty years, commenting: "Much has been written about metrosexuals, but no one has done it as well as the man credited with coining the term, Mark Simpson."

He is the author of: Male Impersonators (1994), Anti-Gay (1996), It's a Queer World (1996), The Queen is Dead (2001) and Saint Morrissey (2004).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Simpson_(journalist)

Further Readings:

Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan by Mark Simpson
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Touchstone (March 7, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 074328481X
ISBN-13: 978-0743284813
Amazon: Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan
Amazon Kindle: Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan

There is no other contemporary artist who is so famously difficult, so seemingly enigmatic, and so passionately loved by his fans as Morrissey. From the moment he caught the public's eye in the early 1980s as the iconic front man of the Smiths, and through his subsequent solo career, the patron saint of misfits has fascinated and baffled in equal measure. Yet, as Mark Simpson argues in this wickedly funny and deeply sacrilegious "psycho-bio" - told through the lens of his own obsession as a lifelong fan - Morrissey isn't quite so enigmatic as he might appear. To understand this most private (and sexually ambivalent) of stars, one need only uncover the countless clues to his personality in his startlingly candid song lyrics and his innumerable provocative interviews. Simpson deftly explores why Morrissey bewitched a generation - and why he remains as intriguing as ever. Both an insightful look at the singer's career and a personal story of a boy's first love for his music idol, Saint Morrissey is, like its subject, shrewd, sharp-witted, charming, and utterly original.

More Spotlights at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

Comments

[bauderike.livejournal.com]

In December 2007, GQ Russia placed him in their 'Top Ten Things That Changed Men's Lives'.
No wonder. The guy looks much like a Russian bandit (in the pic).. :)

Hi Elisa. I was about to ask, why did you never write about Gerard Reve?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Reve
I read his book "Dear Boys" (1973.)
Next. What is your feeling about Romain Gary?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romain_Gary
I am in a difficulty saying which is more interesting, his fiction or his real life. Either looks and sounds tremendous.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I will check both link, sorry for my ignorance, but I didn't know them. Thank you for pointing out.

[bauderike.livejournal.com]

and please don't forget of my beloved author William Somerset Maugham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham
Virtually, the names belong to history, and they are undeservedly forgotten.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Yes, W.S. Maugham is on my list, I'm only waiting for his anniversary to post about him