Tim Dowling | |
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 Dowling playing the banjo in the band Police Dog Hogan | |
| Born | Robert Timothy Dowling [1] June 1963 [2] Connecticut, US |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Writing |
Robert Timothy Dowling ( /ˈdaʊlɪŋ/ ; born June 1963) is an American journalist and author who writes a weekly column in The Guardian about his life with his family in London.
Dowling worked in data entry for a films database before he became a freelance journalist, first working for GQ , then women's magazines and the Independent on Sunday . [3] He is a columnist for The Guardian and has a weekly column in the paper's Saturday magazine, Weekend. His column replaced Jon Ronson's in 2007. He writes observational columns, often about his wife. [4] Sam Leith of The Guardian noted that "Dowling's a very fresh and smart writer, as he needs to be. Stories about machete massacres or ebola pandemics pretty much write themselves: writing about nothing much, week in, week out, is the real test." [5] Dowling also worked as a cartoonist for a short time. [6]
Dowling's books include a 2001 book about the inventor of the disposable razor, King Camp Gillette, [7] Suspicious Packages and Extendable Arms, a collection of his writing from The Guardian, and The Giles Wareing Haters' Club, his 2007 debut novel concerning a journalist Googling himself (narcissurfing [8] ) who finds an online club of people who hate him, inspired by Dowling searching for his name online. [9] Giles Wareing was reviewed by TLS . [10] Metro said it is "a fine comedy of domestic triviality". [11]
Dowling said of his 2014 book How to Be a Husband: "It got quite a bit of publicity in the U.K. when it came out and [my wife] wasn't prepared for all that." [12] Tom Hodgkinson writing in The Spectator called this book "a rare delight". [13] Leith in The Guardian said there is "pleasure and treasure here." [5] David Evans wrote in The Independent: "It's a rare thing to be able to write about life as a husband and father in such a way as to elicit nods of recognition among those who are neither of those things; Dowling does it with panache." [14]
Dowling was born in Connecticut. His mother was a schoolteacher, his father was a dentist, and he has a brother and two sisters. [3] He moved to the UK from New York at the age of 27 and currently lives in London with his wife Sophie de Brandt [15] [16] and their three sons. [17] Dowling has played banjo (which his wife bought for his birthday) in the band Police Dog Hogan [18] [19] since 2009, and he writes about their festival gigs, including Glastonbury, in his column. [20] [21] [22]
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