American Studies by Mark Merlis Published by Houghton Mifflin Published September 9, 1994 Fiction 272 pgs. • Find on Amazon.com • WorldCat Reviewed by Stephen O. Murray April 10, 2016. Mark Merlis, who was born in 1950, published his first novel, American Studies, in 1994. It is set in 1989 in the wry mind of Reeve, a 62-year-old D.C. … Continue reading A well-crafted debut novel by Mark Merlis