Philipp Meyer has come a long way to get to this point. He grew up within the violent confines of Baltimore, dropped out of high school, made his way to Cornell University, and even worked for awhile as a trader for UBS, the global financial services company. But now he has reached a new milestone in his life - the release of his first novel. The book, titled American Rust, is a tour-de-force of stark prose assessing American society following the upheaval caused by the industrial age.
Meyer’s received glowing reviews from some pretty heavy hitters in the literary world, and the book is even expected to chart on The New York Times’ Best Seller List when it comes out next month. Meyer will be reading from American Rust at The Bookery II on Saturday, Feb. 28, so we took a moment to talk about his book and the writing process itself.
Popcorn Youth: Let’s talk about the book. It’s a terse, often chilling portrait of American life. There have been comparisons to Cormac McCarthy and even John Steinbeck. Do you take names like this into account as you’re writing, or does the style come from somewhere all its own?
Philipp Meyer: While I definitely appreciate Steinbeck and McCarthy, the writers I’m most conscious of learning from are Joyce, Faulkner, Hemingway, Woolf; also a Scottish writer named James Kelman. One of literature’s unique capabilities is that it can take you inside people’s minds and consciousness. That was my goal in American Rust.
I spent a lot of time studying the way people’s thoughts and speech patterns interact, and a lot of time studying the mechanics of my own thoughts - how quickly the mind moves from one topic to another, circles around and examines things from different angles. As for the writing style I think it’s just me, writing in the most honest and accurate way I can.
PY: It’s been quite a journey that’s delivered you to this point. You’ve worked as a trader for UBS, a medical technician and a construction worker, to name a few. Is it the writer’s sensibility that sends him or her on such a circuitous path, or is it a desire to gain from experience?
Meyer: It’s both. I’ve always been a deeply curious person, interested in the way things work, whether it was a mechanical system or a social system or a human personality. I never outgrew my childish curiosity. I’m always wondering, why is this so? Why does that work that way?
One thing that sets me apart from a lot of writers is that I’m a deeply physical person. I’m quite aware that there’s a primitive side of me and that unless I keep it satisfied it will cause a great deal of emotional discontent. So whether that’s building things or driving an ambulance or figuring out how to hunt for my own food - whatever - I spend a lot of time in the woods just getting lost and figuring out how to get out again.
PY: We’re all influenced by our experiences, sometimes profoundly. How have yours influenced your writing?
Meyer: Growing up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Baltimore was probably the biggest influence. There was a strong undercurrent of violence, though it was still a functioning community in most ways. We lived five doors up from a seedy bar and there were always these spectacular brawls spilling out onto the street; there were always cop cars and ambulances. A guy was nearly beaten to death in front of our house, another guy was shot to death by the police in the basement of another house we lived in (just before we moved in). We had two different neighbors and it was well-known that they had both killed people, but for different reasons had gotten away with it. Another neighbor, who was well-liked, shot someone in a bar and, even though it was self-defense, got sent to prison, where he ended up dying.
Those experiences probably had a lot to do with this sort of primitive part of me - wondering about the intersection between our human consciousness and animal impulses.
PY: What are you plans for the future? Can we expect you to turn your interests and time fully to writing, or do you plan on carrying on with life as it comes at you?
Meyer: I’m working on another novel that has a different setting and focus entirely - it’s set in Texas and is interested in the upper class, rather than the working class. But that other part of me, that primitive part, is always restless. It’s looking for the next adventure.
Novelist Philipp Meyer will read from American Rust at Bookery II on Saturday, February 28 at 3pm. The reading is free and open to the public.