Joshua Gamson

Joshua Gamson (born November 16, 1962) is an American scholar and author. A graduate of Swarthmore College and the University of California, Berkeley,[1] he served on the faculty of Yale University[2] before becoming a professor of sociology at the University of San Francisco. His work has appeared in The Nation, The American Prospect, Newsday, Gender & Society, the Journal of the History of Sexuality, and Sociological Inquiry.[1] He is the son of sociologists William and Zelda F. Gamson.[3]

Gamson received the 2006 Stonewall Book Award for nonfiction for The Fabulous Sylvester,[4] his biography of disco singer and activist Sylvester, which was also shortlisted for the 2005 Lambda Literary Awards.[5] In a mostly positive review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau lamented the gaps in Gamson's knowledge of music history, but praised his "details and insights" into Sylvester's life.[6] Kirkus Reviews called the book "worshipful, occasionally overenthusiastic, yet engaging and sometimes surprisingly insightful."[7]

He was a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow[8] and received a Placek Award from the American Psychological Association in 1995.[9]

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

  1. ^ a b "Joshua Gamson: Profile". College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Francisco. 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  2. ^ Ochs, Robyn (1999). "Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity (review)". Anything That Moves. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  3. ^ Gamson, Joshua (Summer 2013). "Keeping it in the family". Contexts. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  4. ^ Staff report (May 11, 2006). "2006 Stonewall Book Award winners announced". The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  5. ^ Gonzalez Cerna, Antonio (April 9, 2005). "18th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary Foundation. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  6. ^ "Robert Christgau: Disco Heat". www.robertchristgau.com.
  7. ^ "THE FABULOUS SYLVESTER | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  8. ^ Carpenter, Edward (May 27, 2009). "USF Sociologist Wins Guggenheim". USF Newsroom. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  9. ^ "Recipients of the Wayne F. Placek Award". Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis. 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-26.