In this interview, we chat with Maryse Meijer about metaphor, quotation marks, the dubious necessity of author photos, and so much more.

Maryse Meijer is the author of Heartbreaker, Rag, Northwood, and The Seventh Mansion. She lives in Chicago.

Books and stories mentioned in this episode:

• Samuel Beckett: A Biography – Deirdre Bair
• Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett
• About Schmidt – Louis Begley
• Autobiography of Red – Anne Carson
• New Grub Street – George Gissing
• The Children of the Dead; Greed; The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
• Pet Sematary – Stephen King
• Bad Brains; The Cipher; Kink; Skin; Strange Angels – Kathe Koja
• The Communicating Vessels – Friederike Mayröcker 
• All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy
• Hurricane Season; Paradais – Fernanda Melchor
• The Defense; Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
• Black Water; Blonde; Heat; My Sister, My Love; “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”; Zombie – Joyce Carol Oates
• With the Animals – Noëlle Revaz
• Snake Eyes – Rosamond Smith
• The Custom of the Country – Edith Wharton

Maryse's featured author photo is by Lewis McVey. The discussed image of St. Pancratius can be viewed here.