Bret Easton Ellis, the acclaimed and controversial author best known for his novel American Psycho, recently invited a Washington State University English professor onto his podcast for a nearly two-hour conversation about film, writing, and creativity.

Grant Maierhofer is the current Buchanan Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Department of English at WSU. He is also the recent author of Synecdoche, New York: Movies Minute by Minute, a critical analysis of Charlie Kaufman’s 2008 film of the same title. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director whose commitment to realism increasingly consumes both his artistic vision and life circumstances.

Grant Maierhofer, scholarly associate professor in the WSU Department of English (photo courtesy of WSU).

“Synecdoche is unique in Kaufman’s body of work because his most popular and successful films have obvious comedic elements, but his directorial debut explores neuroses and can feel daunting for its breadth,” said Maierhofer. “This is one of those films that people on the internet love to try and solve.”

Maierhofer’s critical analysis clearly resonated with Ellis, whose novels also include Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction. He launched “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” in 2013, interviewing many guests on topics in the film and music industries and the role of media in a digital age.

“I had started corresponding with Bret Easton Ellis a few years ago, when I reached out after my book Peripatet came out,” said Maierhofer. “Since he’s a big film lover and talks about movies all the time on his podcast, this project seemed like the perfect thing to discuss with him.”

Maierhofer appeared on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” on July 21, and their nearly two-hour conversation ranged from Maierhofer’s film criticism to broader discussions on the movie itself, writing, art, and the process of creativity.

“They say to not meet your heroes, but this experience was totally unexpected and beautiful,” said Maierhofer, adding that he tells his students to reach out to writers and artists they love because of these unexpected moments of connection.

Episodes of “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” can be found on Patreon.