Joshua Gamson (born November 16, 1962) is an American scholar and author. A graduate of

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

and the University of California, Berkeley, he served on the faculty of Yale University before becoming a professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco. His work has appeared in '' The Nation'', '' The American Prospect'', ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', '' Gender & Society'', the '' Journal of the History of Sexuality'', and ''

Sociological Inquiry ''Sociological Inquiry'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of Alpha Kappa Delta. The journal explores the human condition through a sociological lens. It was established in 1928 as ''The Quarterl ...

''. He is the son of sociologists William and

Zelda F. Gamson Zelda Gamson (born March 12, 1936) is an American sociologist, writer and activist. Her scholarly work has primarily focused on the sociology of higher education, in particular innovation and change. Personal life and education Born Zelda Finke ...

. Gamson received the 2006 Stonewall Book Award for nonfiction for ''The Fabulous Sylvester'', his biography of disco singer and activist

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

, which was also shortlisted for the 2005 Lambda Literary Awards. In a mostly positive review for '' The Village Voice'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

lamented the gaps in Gamson's knowledge of music history, but praised his "details and insights" into Sylvester's life. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called the book "worshipful, occasionally overenthusiastic, yet engaging and sometimes surprisingly insightful." He was a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow and received a Placek Award from the American Psychological Association in 1995.

Bibliography

*''Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America'' (1994) *''Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity'' (1998) *''The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The Music, The Seventies in San Francisco'' (2005) * ''Modern Families: Stories of Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship'' (2015)

References

External links

Profile at the Guggenheim Foundationwww.joshuagamson.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamson, Joshua American sociologists American non-fiction writers American LGBT writers Living people 1962 births Swarthmore College alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Yale University faculty Stonewall Book Award winners