I remember once being at Brandeis, that's where I went to college, and some obnoxious professor was talking to me and used a word I didn't know. And I remember saying to myself, "That's the last time that's ever going to happen." There's no reason that I need to be lorded over by someone just because their vocabulary is bigger. So I just look everything up when I come upon something, and then write it down. I think it's important to know scientific language because otherwise it gives people tremendous power over you. I mean, look at the way a doctor can diagnose you and suggest some sort of radical remedy and you won't have any idea what he's talking about. It's like when you bring your car in and they say you have this and this and this and you just say, "OK." And that's what most people do with doctors. I make a conscious effort to include that sort of language now and then in my books because I'm really fascinated by it and I think it's good for people to know. 1
Not much has been written on the life of this estranged author. Mark Leyner, born in 1956, was turned on to art in general when he first saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. When he saw the ladies swoon and heard the people cheer he knew he wanted to do something similar. At the age of 17, he started to write fiction and hasn't looked back since. He has released two collections of short stories, entitled Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog and I Smell Esther Williams, 3 novels, Et Tu, Babe, My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist and The Tetherballs of Bougainville. In additon, Leyner also writes columns for Esquire and George magazines, and has worked for a handful of others in the past. Mark is currently married to Ecuadorian Mercedes Pinto, and has a daughter named Gabrielle.
He tried a variety of drugs in his youth and claimed that people would give him drugs so that they could figure out what they were. Since the birth of his daughter, he has stopped all not-so-legal drug usage and has cut down to a little alcohol on occasion, although he also claims that he smoked 500 cigarettes with Kieth Richards, of whom Leyner is a big fan.
His writing is probably his most interesting facet. Often using himself as the central character, Leyner attended college at Brandeis University. He's been called "Avant-pop" and "The Writer For The MTV Generation." Leyner actually has done some work with the music video station on it's short lived, but incredibly gifted, Liquid Television program. He wrote atleast one sketch for the show, airing in the third season. A lot of his sketches would not come to fruition as they were deemed innapropriate as they showed too many naughty bits.
References:
1: An Interview With Mark Leyner, Alexander Laurence: www.altx.com/int2/mark.leyner.html
gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/0/Publications/MONDO/mark-ley.txt
alt.tv.liquid-tv
hotwired.lycos.com/talk/club/special/ transcripts/95-03-13.leyner.html
www.hobokeni.com/from.asp