O'Dwyer, Starbuck (Jeffrey Starbuck O'Dwyer)

PERSONAL:

Born in Rochester, NY. Education: Graduated from Princeton University, 1989, Oxford University, and Cornell University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Washington, DC. E-mail—info@starbuckodwyer.com

CAREER:

Lawyer, writer, and radio host. Host of "Starbuck's Supreme Court" segment on WZID-FM Radio, Manchester, NH. Guest appearances on numerous television and radio shows. Admitted to the Bars of New York, Illinois, and District of Columbia.

WRITINGS:

Red Meat Cures Cancer (novel), Midnight Books (Bethesda, MD), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Starbuck O'Dwyer is a Washington, DC, lawyer who has made a name for himself with his frequent guest appearances on television and radio shows as a legal commentator and comic, in addition to hosting a regular show on a New Hampshire radio station. O'Dwyer's first novel, Red Meat Cures Cancer, was written during his off-hours as a practicing attorney. It tells the story of a fast-food chain executive who comes up with an off-the-wall ad campaign aimed at picking up lagging sales—succumb to temptation and "Torture Your Body" with the restaurant's cholesterol-laden food. Regarding the novel's exaggerated premise, O'Dwyer remarked in an interview with Princeton Alumni Weekly Online contributor Rob MacKay: "The main purpose of the book is to entertain and make people laugh…. But it's also intended to make people think about the impact of the American consumer culture on their daily lives." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly pointed out the novel's "undeniable gutbusters," adding that O'Dwyer "deserves points for sheer chutzpah." Leo Champion described the book as a "very competent first novel" on the Boston's Weekly Dig Web site, commenting that "as satire goes, the book is first rate." O'Dwyer, wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, "paints Red Meat Cures Cancer with broad, primary strokes burnished with a healthy dose of ribaldry," the result being "deep-fried comic genius."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2002, review of Red Meat Cures Cancer, p. 1422.

Publishers Weekly, January 13, 2003, review of Red Meat Cures Cancer, p. 44.

OTHER

Boston's Weekly Dig,http://www.weeklydig.com/ (May 2, 2007), Leo Champion, review of Red Meat Cures Cancer.

Princeton Alumni Weekly Online, http://www.princeton.edu/˜paw/ (May 14, 2003), Rob MacKay, "More Fries, Big Trouble," interview with Starbuck O'Dwyer.

Starbuck O'Dwyer Home Page,http://www.starbuckodwyer.com (May 2, 2007).