Jacobson, Mark 1948–

PERSONAL: Born May 12, 1948, in New York, NY; son of David (a carpenter) and Rita (a teacher) Jacobson; married Nancy B. Cardozo, April, 1980; children: Rae, Rosalie, Billy. Education: Attended University of Wisconsin, Madison, and University of California, Berkeley. Politics: "Idiosyncratic." Religion: "Equally so."

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o New York Magazine, 444 Madison Avenue, 4th Fl., New York, NY, 10022

CAREER: Writer.

MEMBER: Screenwriters Guild, Cultural Survival.

AWARDS, HONORS: Best Sports Story awards, 1976 and 1977.

WRITINGS:

Gojiro, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 1991.

Everyone and No One, Villard (New York, NY), 1997.

12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Family Tale, additional commentary by Rae Jacobson, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY) 2003.

(Editor, with Jack Newfield) American Monsters: 44 Rats, Blackhats, and Plutocrats, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2004.

(Editor) The KGB Bar Nonfiction Reader, Nation Books (New York, NY), 2004.

(Author of text) Hoops: Four Decades of the Pro Game, photographs by Walter Iooss, Jr., H.N. Abrams (New York, NY) 2005.

Teenage Hipster in the Modern World: From the Birth of Punk to the Land of Bush—Thirty Years of Millennial Journalism, foreword by Richard Price, photographs by James Hamilton, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author of film scripts; contributor to periodicals, including Esquire, New York, Rolling Stone, and Village Voice.

SIDELIGHTS: Mark Jacobson told CA: "I seek alternative routes to spiritual redemption within the postmodern landscape."

In his first novel, Gojiro, Jacobson writes of the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which results in the creation of the giant lizard-like creature named Gojiro (a play off the Japanese name for Godzilla), who has an advanced intellect. The story follows Gojiro and his friend, Komodo, also victimized by the bombing and radiation, as they first make a home for victims of the bombing and then as Gojiro goes on to become a Hollywood star. Eventually, the duo comes across another plot involving atomic weapons and the potential destruction of the world. A Publishers Weekly contributor commented: "The novel's beauty lies in the way … often hilarious conversations strike a poignant note." David Sacks, writing in the New York Times Book Review, called the novel "profoundly strange, often hilarious."

In 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Family Tale, Jacobson recounts a three-month trip taken with his wife and children through Asia, India, the Middle East, and Europe. The journey was taken partially in response to Jacobson's view that his children were wallowing in mindless, popular culture. "I just couldn't accurately gauge the extent to which my kids were keeping their eyes open and actually looking at the world around them and approaching it all with what I considered to be human, and humane, values, in a way that's intelligent and on an important level discerning," Jacobson told Thom Beal in an interview for the Rocky Mountain News. In a review on the Sacramento News and Review Web site, James Seckington wrote: "Neither sentimentalist claptrap nor chic deconstructionist gobbledygook written by yet another lonely grad student out to historicize away the family's soul, 12,000 Miles is a sincere book written by a very funny dad."

Teenage Hipster in the Modern World: From the Birth of Punk to the Land of Bush—Thirty Years of Millennial Journalism, is a collection of the author's past contributions of articles from the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Esquire and New York magazine. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called it "personal, savvy journalism that will make readers stop in their tracks and ponder."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Jacobson, Mark, 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time: A Family Tale, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2005, review of Teenage Hipster in the Modern World: From the Birth of Punk to the Land of Bush—Thirty Years of Millennial Journalism, p. 335.

New York Times Book Review, March 17, 1991, David Sacks, review of Gojiro.

Publishers Weekly, February 1, 1991, review of Gojiro, p. 66.

Rocky Mountain News, October 16, 2003, Thom Beal, "Globe-Trotting a Tonic for Family in a Rut," interview with the author.

ONLINE

Sacramento News and Review Online, http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/home/ (August 28, 2003), James Seckington, review of 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time.