Gingold, Alfred

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Gingold, Alfred

PERSONAL: Married Helen Rogan (a writer); children: one son. Education: Attended Cornell University.

ADDRESSES: Home—Brooklyn, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Broadway Books, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Freelance writer. Worked previously as a director, actor, and teacher in New York.

WRITINGS:

Items from Our Catalog, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1982.

More Items from Our Catalog, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1983.

(Editor) John Buskin Dr. Boo Boo's Baby and Child Repair, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1985.

(With John Buskin) Snooze: The Best of Our Magazine, Workman Publishers (New York, NY), 1986.

The House Trap, Workman Publishers (New York, NY), 1988.

Fire in the John, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1991.

(With wife, Helen Rogan) The Cool Parents' Guide to All of New York: Excursions and Activities in and around Our City Your Children Will Love and You Won't Think Are Too Bad Either, City and Company (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Helen Rogan) Brooklyn's Best: Sightseeing, Shopping, Eating, and Happy Wandering in the Borough of Kings, City and Company (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Helen Rogan) New York's Fifty Best Museums for Cool Parents and Their Kids, City and Company (New York, NY), 1999.

Dog World: And the Humans Who Live There, Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals, including Esquire, Gentlemen's Quarterly, Harper's Bazaar, New Republic, Travel and Leisure, and the New York Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Writer Alfred Gingold grew up in New York, and attended Cornell University, where he studied theater and English literature. He went on to work in a variety of fields, including as a director, actor, and a teacher, before becoming a fulltime freelance writer. He has also written a column for the Prodigy Internet Service, and covered the 2002 Westminster Dog Show for Slate. Gingold is also the author of several humorous books, both on his own and with collaborators, including several New York guide books such as The Cool Parents' Guide to All of New York: Excursions and Activities in and around Our City Your Children Will Love and You Won't Think Are Too Bad Either and Brooklyn's Best: Sightseeing, Shopping, Eating, and Happy Wandering in the Borough of Kings, both coauthored by his wife, Helen Rogan.

With Fire in the John, Gingold offers readers a parody of books about the men's movement—particularly Iron John and Fire in the Belly—and pokes fun at the so-called New Man. The book takes a comedic look at the typical male rituals discussed in these volumes, such as the weekend nature retreat. In an article by Tina Jordan for Entertainment Weekly, Gingold explains the popularity of the men's movement by saying that "there's a twelve-step program for people who are messy, for God's sake…. There's some connection between being a hero and being a victim in our society."

Dog World: And the Humans Who Live There is Gingold's take on the world of dog ownership from the point of view of someone who came late to the love of all things canine. Although Gingold had other pets as a child, such as goldfish, he did not own a dog until well into his adulthood and, perhaps as a result, is not as obsessive as some life-long dog owners tend to be. Gingold focuses on the various aspects of owning a dog, including the sometimes strange behavior of dog owners living in a city, specifically Brooklyn. He also touches on both the humorous side, such as the best plastic bags to use for scooping, and the serious side, such as breeding practices. He includes tales about his own dog, a Norfolk terrier named George. A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that "Gingold's relative newness to dog culture allows him a kind of wry objectivity." Nancy Bent, in an article for Booklist, wrote that "this fun read will be sought out by readers who appreciate writing on the wry side." In a review for Library Journal, Florence Scarinci called Gingold's effort an "informative and funny book."