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July 16, 2020
R.L. Maizes' Playlist for Her Novel "Other People's Pets"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
R.L. Maizes' novel Other People's Pets is smart, funny, and wonderful on every page.
Kirkus wrote of the book:
"While its quirky combination of fictional elements and adroit, deadpan writing give the novel a wryly comedic atmosphere, La La’s story is melancholy and moving. An uncanny, appealing blend of suspense, irony, tragedy, and how-to for lock-picking, burgling, and ankle monitor removal."
In her own words, here is R.L. Maizes' Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel Other People's Pets:
The main characters in Other People's Pets, La La and her father, Zev, are stuck in the past. They long for old relationships, and their way of coping—robbing houses—only makes matters worse. As characters, though, they’re redeemed by the love they have for each other, and, In La La’s case, by her relationship with animals and her ability to experience what they feel.
1. “Hold Back the River,” James Bey. This heart-wrenching song could be the anthem for the novel in which the main characters are better at mourning old relationships than tending to the relationships they’re in.
2. “Bang the Drum Slowly,” Emmylou Harris. This song is about questions Emmylou Harris has for her father, who died. La La has questions for her mother who disappeared, which is worse, in a way, because it’s more painful to know her mother is alive but doesn’t want anything to do with her. The song captures La La’s yearning.
3. “Sometimes I Don’t Mind,” The Suicide Machines. If La La wrote music, this tribute to a Boston Terrier is the kind of song she would write. Like the singer, whose dog “makes [him] forget everything,” no matter how bad things get in La La’s life, she finds refuge in her relationship with animals.
4. “Money Can’t Buy It,” Annie Lennox. La La needs to listen to this song. She’s hoping the possessions she steals will fill the holes in her life, but it hasn’t worked. Leading a criminal life hasn’t brought Zev happiness, either. There are lessons here for the minor character, Tank, too, though it’s doubtful he’d listen.
5. “How To Save a Life,” The Fray. I love this Colorado band, and the novel is set in Colorado, where a patch of thin ice sets the plot in motion. The book features several attempts, some more successful than others, to save lives—La La’s when she’s a child, a crime victim’s, and the lives of animals.
6. “Mercy Street,” Peter Gabriel. La La wants mercy for Zev who has finally been caught and charged with burglary, and she wants forgiveness for herself when she hurts Clem, her fiancé. It’s what we all hope for when we screw up.
7. “Teach Your Children,” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Zev is a master when it comes to teaching La La the burglary trade. It’s all he has, so he shares it with her. He’s not as good at helping her with schoolwork.
8. “Don’t Leave Home,” Dido. I couldn’t resist including this song, since Zev is under house arrest. It also captures La La’s anguish each time she is abandoned by someone close to her.
9. “Born Under a Bad Sign,” Albert King. Both La La and Zev endured painful childhoods and were forced to grow up too soon. One of the questions the novel asks is can they overcome their pasts to lead full and contented lives.
R.L. Maizes was born and raised in Queens, New York. She now lives in Boulder County, Colorado.
Maizes's short stories have aired on National Public Radio and have appeared in the literary magazines Electric Literature, Witness, Bellevue Literary Review, Slice, and Blackbird, among others. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Lilith, and elsewhere. Maizes is an alumna of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop. Her work has received Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open contest, has been a finalist in numerous other national contests, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
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