Jason Zinoman (born 1975 or 1976) is an American critic and author. He has written for ''

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 ...

'', ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'', '' Vanity Fair'', and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. In 2011, he published ''

Shock Value Shock value is the potential of an image, text, action, or other form of communication, such as a public execution, to provoke a reaction of sharp disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions. In advertising Shock advertising or Sho ...

'', a non-fiction book about horror films. In 2017, he published ''Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night'', a biography of David Letterman.

Career

Zinoman began his career at ''Time Out New York'', where he became the theater editor in 2001. After writing freelance stories for ''

'', he was hired to become the On Stage and Off theater columnist in 2003. In 2011, he became the comedy critic for ''The New York Times'', a newly created position, and, two years later, he published "Searching for Dave Chappelle", a

Kindle single A Kindle single is a type of e-book which is published through Amazon's Kindle Store. It is specifically intended as a format for novella-length nonfiction literature or long-form journalism. The name "single" comes from musical singles which ar ...

about comedian

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

's retreat from public life. In 2010, he recapped the third season of the HBO series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

'' for ''

'' and argued that the series might not be getting the critical attention it deserved because of an "old elite snobbishness toward lowbrow genres." In 2011, he published the non-fiction book ''

'', which describes how horror films changed in the late 1960s to become more brutal, realistic, and auteur-driven, as opposed to the older, campier films based on Gothic melodrama. The book was an outgrowth of an article he had written for '' Vanity Fair''. He has spoken further about horror films as an interviewee in the 2013 documentary film ''

Birth of the Living Dead ''Birth of the Living Dead'' (sometimes known by its working title ''Year of the Living Dead'') is a 2012 American documentary film directed by Rob Kuhns. It is about the 1968 horror film ''Night of the Living Dead'' and that film's legacy. It fe ...

'', which tracks the legacy of ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

''. In 2017, he co-hosted the television show "Theater Talk."

Personal life

Zinoman was born in 1975 or 1976. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where his mother founded the

Studio Theatre A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...

. He graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and got married in 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zinoman, Jason Living people American theater critics American male non-fiction writers American non-fiction writers Critics employed by The New York Times 1970s births Writers from Washington, D.C. University of Chicago alumni