Bob Batchelor

Bob Batchelor is a cultural historian and biographer who has published books on Stan Lee, Bob Dylan, The Great Gatsby, Mad Men, and John Updike. His latest, Rookwood: The Rediscovery and Revival of an American Icon, An Illustrated History, won the 2021 Independent Publishers Book Award for Fine Art. The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius won the 2020 Independent Publishers Book Award for Historical Biography. Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel was a finalist for the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for Nonfiction.

Batchelor's books have been translated into a dozen languages and his work has appeared in Time magazine, The New York Times, Cincinnati Enquirer, and Los Angeles Times. He is also the creator and host of the podcast John Updike: American Writer, American Life. Batchelor has appeared as an on-air commentator for The National Geographic Channel, PBS NewsHour, PBS, and NPR, and as a host on “TriState True Crime” on WCPO’s Cincy Lifestyle television show.

Batchelor earned his doctorate in American Literature from the University of South Florida. He has taught at universities in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, as well as Vienna, Austria. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife Suzette and their teenage daughters

Articles by this Author

The Rise and Fall of the Bootleg King, Winter 2022 | Vol. 67, No. 1

A whiskey baron who murdered his wife in a jealous rage, George Remus led a life that embodied both the opulence and violence of Prohibition.

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