ShelfLife@Texas

Michener Center alumnus Philipp Meyer (MFA ‘08) has earned an amazing plug for his debut novel from crime writer Patricia Cornwell. The best-selling author mentioned it in “Scarpetta,” the latest in her popular coroner-detective series.

The unprecedented endorsement caught the attention of both The New York Times and the UK’s Guardian this week.

Meyer and Cornwell share an agent, who gave the best-selling author an advance copy of Meyer’s “American Rust,” due out from Spiegel and Grau (a division of Random House) this February.

Cornwell apparently liked the book. Not only did she provide a glowing jacket blurb, she compared Meyer’s style to Hemingway and suggested he should win a Pulitzer Prize.

Cornwell and Meyer have never met, but Meyer plans to read “Scarpetta” right away. “I’m flattered,” Meyer said of Cornwell’s support, “and proud.”

Meyer will read and sign copies of “American Rust” at 7 p.m., March 12 at BookPeople Bookstore.