Mike Mariani, a contributing writer at Highbrow Magazine,  was raised in Connecticut and now lives in Hoboken, New Jersey. While working on his Master’s in English at Fordham University, he wrote features and reviews for Premiere. His writing career expanded eclectically from there: He has written about politics, culture, international affairs, and film for The Faster Times, Cinema Blend, and L Magazine spinoff Listicles. He currently has a weekly Game of Thrones column for The Faster Times. He teaches at Mercy College in New York.

Q & A With Mike:

What inspired you to become a writer?

After aspiring to be a louche attorney in middle school (kids!), I began writing random insights on scraps of paper and stuffing them in my nightstand drawer. I never looked back.

Who are a few of your favorite authors/photographers/artists/journalists?

Authors: Vladimir Nabokov, J.D. Salinger, William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Marilynne Robinson, Annie Dillard, Hunter S. Thompson, Lewis Carroll, it goes on.

Artists (filmmakers): Terrence Malick, Henry Selick, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson.

What’s the worst job/assignment  you’ve ever had?

A cook at a superrich country club. 

Which is your favorite city in the U.S.?

Toss-up between Austin and New Orleans.

What’s your all-time favorite film?

Believe it or not, The Tree of Life.

Which newspapers/magazines/websites do you read regularly?

You mean besides Highbrow Magazine? New York, New York Times, National Geographic, and, when I’m in a certain really weird mood, Harper’s.

Would you rather become the next editor-in-chief of the New Yorker or replace Jon Stewart as host of the “Daily Show”?

I’m tempted to say Daily Show and amass my own cult of personality, but I could see that backfiring. We’ll go with editor-in-chief of New Yorker.

What are your favorite “highbrow” pastimes?

Reading highbrow magazines during my lunch break.