Michael Gerber (born June 14, 1969) is best known as the author of the Barry Trotter series, ''Sunday Times'' best-selling parodies of the

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at H ...

books. Before becoming a novelist, Gerber contributed humor to ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when '' Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/hist ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliation (geology), foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcano, volcanic ash (volcanic), ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is t ...

'', NPR and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', among many other venues. He is an alumnus of Yale and Oak Park River Forest High School. In October 2015, Gerber launched '' The American Bystander'', an all-star print humor quarterly. The magazine was an immediate hit, garnering strongly positive reviews in ''The New York Times'' and ''Newsweek'', which hailed ''Bystander'' as "the last great humor magazine." As of January 2020, ''Bystander'''s thirteen issues have raised over $290,000 via crowdfunding and subscriptions on Patreon. Gerber currently serves as Editor & Publisher, personally handling all aspects of the venture. This auteurist method is somewhat unique in publishing; Gerber refined and perfected it with Barry Trotter and his other large-scale parodies of the 90's and 00's. In addition to providing an old-style closeness between editor and audience (as with

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

and

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

), its efficiency allows ''Bystander'' to pay its contributors. A March 2019 column in ''The New York Times'' by

Jennifer Finney Boylan Jennifer Finney Boylan (born June 22, 1958) is a bestselling author, transgender activist, professor at Barnard College, and a contributing opinion writer for the '' New York Times''. Early life and education Boylan was born in Valley Forge, ...

lauded Gerber's "hard work and genius" as it detailed ''Bystanders long, strange path to publication. In early 1982, a full pilot issue was prepared by then-Editor

Brian McConnachie Brian McConnachie (born December 23, 1942) is an American actor, comedy writer, and children's book author. In 1982, he won an Emmy Award as part of the writing team for ''SCTV Network'', and in 1979 he was nominated for an Emmy as part of the w ...

and Managing Editor Boylan, but funding fell through before it could be distributed; Gerber referred to this test-run as he prepared the 2015 edition, blending it with contemporary trends in comedy and design. Boylan wrote that the result is a "beautiful, hilarious magazine — very much what we always hoped the ''Bystander'' would become." While an undergraduate, Gerber restarted ''

'', America's oldest humor magazine.Gerber, Michael. "The Yale Record: A short history of its rise, fall, and rise again." 2007. Accessed at https://www.scribd.com/doc/204108707/The-Yale-Record-Its-rise-fall-and-rise-again on February 2, 2014. Gerber served as President of ''The Records alumni organization from 1994 to 2014, developing an editorial and publishing model for the magazine. As a result, he is frequently contacted by student editors from all around the world, and has most recently worked with students at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1998, it became the largest ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publi ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. His humor novels have sold 1.2 million copies in 25 languages worldwide. Before turning to comedy, Gerber considered a career as an historian specializing in the 1960s and 70s. In 2008 he, along with novelist/editor

Ed Park Ed Park (born 1970 in Buffalo, New York) is an American journalist and novelist. He was the executive editor of Penguin Press. Career Park was a founding editor of the magazine '' The Believer'' in 2003, and has been an editor at the Poetry Found ...

and author Devin McKinney, launched the popular Beatles fan site Hey Dullblog. Gerber has run the site for over a decade, and it has become a well-loved source for intelligent-if-irreverent analysis of the group, its music, and the era.

Bibliography

*'' Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody'' (2002) *'' Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel'' (2003) *'' Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse'' (2004) *''The Chronicles of Blarnia: The Lying Bitch in the Wardrobe'' (2005) *''Freshman'' (2006) *''Sophomore'' (2006) *''Our Kampf: Collected Humor 1989-2004'' (2006) *''A Christmas Peril'' (2008) *''Life After Death for Beginners'' (2010) *''Downturn Abbey'' (2012) *The American Bystander #1 (2015) *The American Bystander #2 (2016) *The American Bystander #3 (2016) *The American Bystander #4 (2017) *The American Bystander #5 (2017) *The American Bystander #6 (2017) *The American Bystander #7 (2018) *The American Bystander #8 (2018) *The American Bystander #9 (2018) *The American Bystander #10 (2019) *The American Bystander #11 (2019) *The American Bystander #12 (2019) *The American Bystander #13 (2019) *The American Bystander #14 (2020)

References

External links

Michael Gerber's Website

American Bystander Website

Beatles Fan Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerber, Michael 1969 births Living people American humorists The Yale Record alumni American male novelists American parodists Fantasy parodies