Mark Barrowcliffe

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Mark Barrowcliffe (1964-) is a British writer. He grew up in Coventry and studied at the University of Sussex. He worked as a journalist and also as a stand-up comedian before he started writing his first novel, Girlfriend 44. He lives and writes in Brighton, England and South Cambridgeshire. Ron Howard secured the film rights for Girlfriend 44 and Infidelity for First Time Fathers is in development with 2929.

Barrowcliffe achieved early success in the late 1990s as part of the Lad Lit movement.^[1] He is nearer to Terry Southern, Jonathan Coe and Martin Amis than he is to Nick Hornby or Mike Gayle.

Barrowcliffe's early work was noted for its cynicism^[who?] and black humour, although Lucky Dog strikes a lighter tone, that of comedic magic realism.

At his best Barrowcliffe can be irreverent and very funny. Rugby, for instance, is described as 'a game invented by the English public schools in order to encourage homosexuality'. Of a woman who has had a tough time and put on weight, he says 'her life had hit the crash barriers and it looked as though an air bag had gone off inside her face'.

The Elfish Gene is a memoir of growing up uncool, confused, and obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games.

[edit] Bibliography

• Girlfriend 44 - 2000
• Infidelity for first-time fathers - 2001
• Lucky Dog - 2004
• The Elfish Gene - 2007
• Mr Wrong

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/books/20new.html?ref=books