Marcus Berkmann
Marcus Berkmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 14, 1960 |
| Occupation(s) | Author, journalist |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Known for | Writing on cricket, pop music columns, comedy writing |
Marcus Berkmann (born 14 July 1960) is a distinguished author and journalist.
Life
Berkmann received his education at Highgate School followed by Worcester College, Oxford. His professional journey started as a freelance writer, contributing to computer and gaming periodicals including Your Sinclair. During the 1990s, he served as a television critic for both the Daily Mail and the Sunday Express. Since 1987, he has also penned a monthly column on pop music for The Spectator.
Together with his schoolmate Harry Thompson, Berkmann co-wrote the BBC Radio comedy series Lenin of the Rovers. He rose to wider recognition with his 1995 publication, Rain Men, which humorously recounts the creation and exploits of his cricket team, the Captain Scott Invitation XI. Berkmann has maintained a steady output of columns for newspapers and cricket magazines, including the Last Man In feature in Wisden Cricket Monthly, alongside several acclaimed comedic books. In 1999, Brain Men showcased his wit focused on pub quizzes, while 2005’s Fatherhood explored related themes. Later that year, he released Zimmer Men, a follow-up to Rain Men, chronicling his subsequent cricket team experiences and reflections on middle age.
He contributed as a writer to the BBC Three comedy series Monkey Dust and curates the "Dumb Britain" column for Private Eye. In 2009, Berkmann partnered with Stephen Arkell and Chris Pollikett to establish the quiz enterprise Brain Men. His work A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis was featured as a serial on BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in 2012. That same year, he joined Marcel Berlins as co-host on BBC Radio 4’s Round Britain Quiz.
A devoted enthusiast of Star Trek, Berkmann authored Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek, published in March 2016, aimed at general audiences interested in the franchise.
Bibliography
- The Complete Guide to Test Cricket in the Eighties (Partridge Press, 1990)
- Other People: Portraits From The 90s with D. J. Taylor (Bloomsbury, 1990)
- Rain Men: The Madness of Cricket (Little, Brown, 1995)
- Brain Men: A Passion to Compete (Little, Brown, 1999)
- Fatherhood: The Truth (Vermilion, 2005)
- Zimmer Men: The Trials and Tribulations of the Ageing Cricketer (Little, Brown, 2005)
- The Prince of Wales (Highgate) Quiz Book (Hodder & Stoughton, 2006)
- "iPod dilemma" in The Spectator 308/9397 (4 October 2008)
- Ashes to Ashes (Little, Brown, 2009)
- A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis (Little, Brown, 2012)
- Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek (Little, Brown, 2016)
- Berkmann's Cricketing Miscellany (Little, Brown, 2019)
- Berkmann's Pop Miscellany: Sex, Drugs and Cars in Swimming Pools (Little, Brown, 2021)
- How to Be a Writer: Baths, Biscuits and Endless Cups of Tea (Little, Brown, 2022)
- Still a Bit of Snap in the Celery, or K.B.O. (Abacus, 2023)
External links
- Marcus Berkmann index at The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years, featuring Marcus’s reviews and articles for Your Sinclair
- Brainmen official website