Simpson, Mark 1965–

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Simpson, Mark 1965–

PERSONAL: Born 1965, in York, England. Education: Attended Oriel College, Oxford.

ADDRESSES: Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Touchstone Publicity Department, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Worked variously as a deckhand, bouncer, photographer's model, pot washer, and double-glazing salesman.

WRITINGS:

SUBHEAD

Male Impersonators: Men Performing Masculinity, Cassell (London, England), 1993, Routledge (New York, NY), 1994.

(Editor) Anti-Gay, Freedom Editions (New York, NY), 1996.

It's a Queer World: Deviant Adventures in Pop Culture, Haworth Press (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Steven Zeeland) The Queen Is Dead: A Story of Jarheads, Egghead, Serial Killers, and Bad Sex, Arcadia Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Sex Terror: Erotic Misadventures in Pop Culture, Harrington Park Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan, Touchstone (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to various publications, both print and online, including Salon.com and London Independent.

SIDELIGHTS: Mark Simpson worked in a variety of jobs, including as a deckhand, a bouncer, and a doubleglazing salesman, before he decided to become a writer. His books primarily address the more subversive side of pop culture and questions of gender identity; he is also credited by the New York Times as the person responsible for coining the term "metrosexual." In his book Male Impersonators: Men Performing Masculinity, a collection of essays, Simpson takes a look at heterosexual pop culture and the reasons why its proponents appear to be threatened by anything that is based in a homosexual viewpoint. He challenges the notion that homosexuals are fundamentally different from heterosexuals, addressing the difference in lifestyles as one of personal preference as to partner and not an overall alteration of the human being. Bob Summer, in a review for Lambda Book Report, remarked that, "in the process he detonates not a few myths, stereotypes, and icons, gay as well as straight. The psycho-social line separating homo and hetero maleness, he fulsomely show[s], is much fuzzier than Robert Bly, Pat Buchanan, and Christian Right find it to be." In a review for New Statesman & Society, Simon Finch stated that "in a triumphant attempt to expose the centrality of homoeroticism and narcissism in representations of masculinity, Simpson effectively queers the pitch of just about everyone in sight."

In It's a Queer World: Deviant Adventures in Pop Culture Simpson addresses the way the population's awareness of homosexuality has skewed in direct polarity to the proportion of the population that is in fact homosexual and reveals undercurrents of homosexuality in the most traditionally heterosexual of institutions. Remarked Peter Tatchell in a review for New Statesmen: "Simpson's deconstructionist tendencies are deployed with hilarious effect to expose the perverse secrets of daytime TV, bingo, package holidays and shopping malls." Tatchell concluded that "this tale of declining straight hegemony is, perhaps, a mite exaggerated. Nevertheless, Simpson has identified an emerging trend—the breakdown of the binary opposition of normal versus queer."

Taking the opposite stance, Anti-Gay addresses clichés of the homosexual community, including the belief that a homosexual indulging in relations with the opposite sex is in some way betraying the homosexual community, or that coming out of the closet needs to be a major event. In a review for Lambda Book Report, David Levine commented that "I certainly wouldn't recommend this book to anyone coming out. While it deserves some praise for tackling a daring topic with some provocative insights, I can't reconcile these with its overwhelming snideness."

Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan takes a look at the former lead singer of the band the Smiths, who also has enjoyed a successful solo career. Simpson regards Morrissey through the eyes of a fan that remained steadfast through the singer's long bout of inactivity, never losing hope that he would return to the music circuit. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews called Simpson's effort "relentlessly enjoyable, and enhanced by the author's absolute refusal to keep even a shred of his dignity intact," while a reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote that, "with the star already on the comeback trail, this enthusiastic appreciation is well timed."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advocate, July 6, 2004, Dave White, "Ageless Ambiguity: Morrissey's Back with a New Album, and Longtime British Fan and Biographer Mark Simpson Still Wants Him," p. 67.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2005, review of Saint Morrissey: A Portrait of This Charming Man by an Alarming Fan, p. 963.

Lambda Book Report, March-April, 1995, Bob Summer, review of Male Impersonators: Men Performing Masculinity, p. 29; May, 1997, David Levine, review of Anti-Gay, p. 24.

Library Journal, September 15, 2005, Matthew Moyer, review of Saint Morrissey, p. 67.

New Statesman, March 25, 1994, Simon Finch, review of Male Impersonators, p. 51; April 5, 1996, Peter Tatchell, review of It's a Queer World: Deviant Adventures in Pop Culture, p. 39; October 18, 1996, Kevin Harley, review of Anti-Gay, p. 45.

Publishers Weekly, August 15, 2005, review of Saint Morrissey, p. 45.