,
R.L. Maizes

year in books

R.L. Maizes’s Followers (233)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Fleur B...
12,680 books | 1,345 friends

celadon...
70 books | 319 friends

Rachel
2,699 books | 282 friends

Deborah...
40 books | 79 friends

Stacey B
3,542 books | 1,032 friends

Sara Ac...
290 books | 87 friends

Myfanwy
1,141 books | 2,146 friends

Katrina
581 books | 614 friends

More friends…

R.L. Maizes

Goodreads Author


Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
August 2012


R.L. Maizes is the author of the recently released novel A COMPLETE FICTION, the novel OTHER PEOPLE'S PETS, winner of the 2021 Colorado Book Award in Fiction, and the short story collection WE LOVE ANDERSON COOPER. Her stories have aired on National Public Radio and have appeared in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading. Maizes's essays have aired on NPR and have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, O Magazine, McSweeney's and elsewhere.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Maizes currently lives in Boulder County, CO, with her husband, Steve, and her muses: Arie, a cat who was dropped in the animal shelter’s night box like an overdue library book, and Rosie, a dog who spent her first year homeless in South Dakota a
...more

To ask R.L. Maizes questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

R.L. Maizes Getting to sit alone in a quiet room playing with imaginary friends called characters. Making them interact with each other, support and betray one an…moreGetting to sit alone in a quiet room playing with imaginary friends called characters. Making them interact with each other, support and betray one another, while I mull over human nature. Seeing the characters come to life and develop wills of their own, then sharing the work with an audience. When readers are moved and amused by my work, I couldn't be happier. (less)
R.L. Maizes My next book is a novel, Other People's Pets, that will also be published by Celadon Books (Macmillan). It's about an animal empath who must decide wh…moreMy next book is a novel, Other People's Pets, that will also be published by Celadon Books (Macmillan). It's about an animal empath who must decide whether to rob houses to pay her father's legal bills after he's arrested. I've had to learn to think like a burglar for this book, so if the whole writing thing doesn't work out...(less)
Average rating: 3.7 · 2,359 ratings · 597 reviews · 5 distinct worksSimilar authors
Other People's Pets

3.57 avg rating — 1,144 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
We Love Anderson Cooper

3.75 avg rating — 1,079 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Complete Fiction

4.38 avg rating — 118 ratings4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
A Cat Called Grievous

4.39 avg rating — 18 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
Tattoo

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by R.L. Maizes…

Starred Review from Shelf Awareness

"Strike up the band: there's a new R.L. Maizes (We Love Anderson Cooper; Other People's Pets) book, and it's breakout-novel time--or at least it should be. As a funny-pitiless look at the lengths writers will go to get published, A Complete Fiction deserves shelf space alongside Percival Everett's Erasure and Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Plot." Shelf Awareness gives A Complete Fiction a starred revie Read more of this blog post »
1 like ·   •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 30, 2025 05:36 Tags: literary-fiction-humor-satire
Mitz: The Marmose...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
The Breath of a W...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Black Woods, Blue...
R.L. Maizes is currently reading
by Eowyn Ivey (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

R.L.’s Recent Updates

R.L. Maizes finished reading
Whale Fall by Elizabeth  O'Connor
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes and 16 other people liked Jon Zelazny's review of A Complete Fiction:
A Complete Fiction by R.L. Maizes
"One of the first people I met in Hollywood was a writer who’d worked on some big movies. On one of them, the star started doing their own rewrites, and the guy lost his credit. Everyone told him not to contest it because he would lose. But he did con" Read more of this review »
R.L. Maizes is currently reading
Mitz by Sigrid Nunez
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes rated a book it was amazing
The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes rated a book it was amazing
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
What a book! Gorgeous and deep. Fantastical and real. I mourned finishing it and can’t stop thinking about its meaning.
R.L. Maizes is currently reading
The Breath of a Whale by Leigh Calvez
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes rated a book it was amazing
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes is currently reading
Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
Black Woods, Blue Sky
by Eowyn Ivey (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes is currently reading
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Rate this book
Clear rating
R.L. Maizes is currently reading
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Snow Child
by Eowyn Ivey (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
More of R.L.'s books…

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Crazy Challenge C...: The Year in Astrology 386 182 Jul 09, 2020 08:45PM  
Busy as a Bee Books: Book News: 07/14/20 6 11 Jul 22, 2020 06:06AM  
Crazy Challenge C...: 2019 Fall Seasonal Challenge 108 95 Jan 26, 2021 01:05PM  
Crazy Challenge C...: Hurricanes 583 163 Feb 13, 2025 03:46PM  
Edelweiss & Netga...: * 2025 Book Reviews 759 61 Dec 31, 2025 03:50PM  
George Saunders
“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another; rather, it teaches us to abide with the fact that, in their own way, all things are true, and helps us, in the face of this terrifying knowledge, continually push ourselves in the direction of Open the Hell Up.”
George Saunders

Neil Gaiman
“A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.”
Neil Gaiman

Lorrie Moore
“A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage. A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film.”
Lorrie Moore

Norman Rush
“The main effort of arranging your life should be to progressively reduce the amount of time required to decently maintain yourself so that you can have all the time you want for reading.”
Norman Rush

George Saunders
“Humor is what happens when we're told the truth quicker and more directly than we're used to.”
George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone

34560 Jewish Book Carnival — 1612 members — last activity Feb 24, 2026 10:55PM
This is the GoodReads group for the Jewish Book Carnival, a monthly forum for sharing links and information on Jewish books and the blogs that cover t ...more
15406 Local Independent Bookstores and Cafes — 449 members — last activity Nov 29, 2024 09:23AM
A group of like-minded readers out to save some of America's best places, (i.e. local independent bricks-and-mortar bookstores and cafes) by purchasin ...more
25x33 So you love Jewish fiction? — 135 members — last activity Oct 31, 2018 02:05PM
For anyone who loves Jewish fiction, if such a thing exists.
173873 Jewish Book Review — 106 members — last activity Mar 04, 2026 05:28AM
A group for people who want to review and discuss Jewish books.
186163 The Mookse and the Gripes — 2137 members — last activity 2 hours, 48 min ago
Forum for spirited and convivial discussion of fiction from around the world, with particular though not exclusive focus on 20th and 21st century fict ...more
813163 Women of the World — 216 members — last activity Jul 19, 2025 01:58PM
We will be reading literary books by women from all over the world, whether originally written in English, or translated from another language. Join u ...more
966729 Jewish Women's Archive Book Club — 526 members — last activity Nov 30, 2023 03:33PM
The JWA Book Club is an online community of readers who love good books by, for, and about Jewish women. Register for our Book Club discussions with ...more
236309 Colorado Authors League — 236 members — last activity Feb 13, 2026 11:02AM
Established in 1931 to “foster the art and craft of authorship,” the Colorado Authors League is comprised of more than 250 professional writers, inclu ...more
More of R.L.’s groups…
No comments have been added yet.