Philipp Meyer grew up in Baltimore, dropped out of high school, and got his GED when he was sixteen. After spending several years volunteering at a trauma center in downtown Baltimore, he attended Cornell University, where he studied English. Since graduating, Meyer has worked as a derivatives trader at UBS, a construction worker, and an EMT, among other jobs. His writing has been published in McSweeney's, The Iowa Review, Salon.com, and New Stories from the South. From 2005 to 2008 Meyer was a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. He splits his time between Texas and upstate New York.
For the first time in the history of painting, Leonardo decided to portray the twelve disciples, and Jesus himself, as ordinary men, and not saints. .. And I needed a brilliant character to research why Leonardo decided to do this.
Two young men are on the verge of finally escaping the prison of their economically-dead hometown in Pennsylvania, in Philipp Meyer's debut novel "American Rust." But their exit is cut short by a tragedy, a fatal mistake, that changes everything. Their desperation, and their town's, underpins Meyer's relentlessly frank story. Meyer grew up in Baltimore's working class Hampden neighborhood -- that's where we met for this interview, at the neighborhood's iconic "Cafe Hon" ...
For the first time in the history of painting, Leonardo decided to portray the twelve disciples, and Jesus himself, as ordinary men, and not saints. .. And I needed a brilliant character to research why Leonardo decided to do this. 
