Mark Leyner is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 postmodernist

Postmodern literature

The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...

 author.

Leyner employs an intense and unconventional style in his works of fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

. His stories are generally humorous and absurd: In The Tetherballs of Bougainville, Mark's father survives a lethal injection at the hands of the New Jersey penal system, and so is freed but must live the remainder of his life in fear of being executed, at New Jersey's discretion, in any situation and regardless of collateral damage. They frequently incorporate elements of meta-fiction

Metafiction

Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...

: In the same novel, an adolescent Mark produces a film adaptation of the story of his father's failed execution, although he reads a newspaper review of the movie to the prison's warden, and then dies, before even leaving the prison. At the sentence level, Leyner uses sprawling imagery and an extravagant vocabulary, bordering on prose poetry

Prose poetry

Prose poetry is poetry written in prose instead of using verse but preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery and emotional effects.-Characteristics:Prose poetry can be considered either primarily poetry or prose, or a separate genre altogether...

.

Leyner has also worked as a columnist for Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

and George

George (magazine)

George was a glossy monthly magazine centered on the theme of politics-as-lifestyle co-founded by John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Michael J. Berman with publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in New York City in September 1995...

magazines, and as a writer for the MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 program Liquid Television

Liquid Television

Liquid Television is an Emmy Award–winning 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The first season of Liquid Television also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. Ultimately, MTV commissioned three seasons of the show, which was produced by Colossal Pictures...

. He also co-wrote and voiced a short-lived series of audio fiction called Wiretap.

Leyner was notably critiqued by David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...

 as a form of 'lapidary stand-up comedy' in Wallace's 1993 essay, "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction". Despite this and appearances on David Letterman

David Letterman

David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

, Leyner remains a cult figure, though this may change as he switches over to the higher profile world of television development. (He has not written any novels for quite some time, presumably in order to devote more time to this new medium.)

Recently Leyner has collaborated with Dr. Billy Goldberg

Billy Goldberg (doctor)

Billy Goldberg is a New York City emergency medicine physician at the NYU School of Medicine , where he is also an Assistant Professor and an Assistant Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine...

 on three humorous, though fact-based, books on medicine.

He is credited with co-authoring the screenplay of War, Inc.

War, Inc.

War, Inc. is a 2008 American political satire film starring John Cusack and directed by Joshua Seftel. Cusack also co-wrote and produced the film.- Plot :...

Books

• Novels
  • Et Tu, Babe (1992)
  • The Tetherballs of Bougainville (1998)
  • The Sugar Frosted Nutsack (2012)
• Short story collections:
  • I Smell Esther Williams and Other Stories (1983)
  • My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist
    My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist
    My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist is a postmodernist/absurdist book written by Mark Leyner, published by Vintage Contemporaries in 1990. Portions of it were originally published in Fiction International, Rolling Stock, Hallwalls Anthology, Esquire or Harper's Magazine before being compiled into its...
    
    (1990)
  • Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog (1996)
• Non-fiction
  • Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini
    Why Do Men Have Nipples
    Why Do Men Have Nipples?, subtitled Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini, is a humor/medical book written by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg, M.D., and is a New York Times Bestseller....
    
    (2005)
  • Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour (2006)
  • Let's Play Doctor: The Instant Guide to Walking, Talking, and Probing like a Real M.D. (2008)

External links

• Author profile at Internet Book List, iblist.com
• The unofficial Mark Leyner page, spesh.com
• Interview with Salon magazine from 1997, salon.com
• AOL Books Interview with Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg
  Billy Goldberg (doctor)
  Billy Goldberg is a New York City emergency medicine physician at the NYU School of Medicine , where he is also an Assistant Professor and an Assistant Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine...
  
  on their book Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour from 2006.
• Interview on War, Inc. at IFC.com