Michael Gerber (parodist)

Michael Gerber (born June 14, 1969) is the author of the Barry Trotter series, million-selling parodies of the Harry Potter books. Before becoming a novelist, Gerber contributed humor to The New Yorker, Saturday Night Live, and many other venues.

In addition to the Barry Trotter parodies, Gerber is also responsible for The Chronicles of Blarnia: The Lying Bitch in the Wardrobe and A Christmas Peril, spoofs of C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens respectively.

He has written two non-parodic novels, Freshman and Sophomore, half of a four-book series which follows a student's progress through the mythical, Ivy/Oxbridge-inflected Stutts University. In writing these satirical romps, Gerber draws upon his experiences as a student at Yale University, specifically his activities on The Yale Record college humor magazine. Gerber currently runs The Record's alumni organization.

Gerber grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and Oak Park, Illinois. His first published work was a humor column for The Trapeze, the student newspaper of Oak Park and River Forest High School. Though many at the time questioned the quality of this material, it did allow him to meet his wife. Gerber has a slight case of cerebral palsy.

A devoted fan of The Beatles, to celebrate John Lennon's 70th birthday in October 2010, Gerber released Life After Death for Beginners, a comic noir loosely based on the life and times of that group. In 2007, he co-founded Hey Dullblog, a well-respected group weblog on all things Beatle. "I only started writing comedy because The Beatles weren't hiring. Blame them."

Gerber lives in Santa Monica, California.

He is the brother of quantum physicist and professor Keith Schwab, and Kristina Schwab.

Bibliography

• "Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody" (2002) ISBN 978-0575074545
• "Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel" (2003) ISBN 978-0575075580
• "Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse" (2004) ISBN 978-0575076303
• "The Chronicles of Blarnia: The Lying Bitch in the Wardrobe" (2005) ISBN 978-0575078161
• "Freshman" (2006) ISBN 978-0786838509
• "Sophomore" (2006) ISBN 978-1890470036
• "Our Kampf: Collected Humor 1989-2004" (2006) ISBN 978-1890470043
• "A Christmas Peril" (2008) ISBN 978-1890470050
• "Life After Death for Beginners" (2010) ISBN 978-1890470067

Interviews

• Interview on wotmania.com

External links

• Michael Gerber's Blog
• Stutts University website
• Official Barry Trotter Website
• Beatles group blog
• Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody 2002 (Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody in the USA 2001) (Chapter I)
• Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel 2003. Chapter I
• Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse 2004. Chapter I
• Life After Death for Beginners 2010. Chapter I

Persondata
Name	Gerber, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 14, 1969
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death