Miriam begins with the “Editor’s Introduction by Max Fulbright”, the fictional editor:
“I met the author of this autobiography through a mutual acquaintance four years ago. We were all attending a ballet in Windsor, Ontario, where I have occasion to do business on a monthly basis, and from the outset she impressed me as a striking if austere woman…
“Our first introduction was casual and she was introduced simply as Miriam. I had no reason to ask her full name which, in fact, I never learned. One afternoon several months later, after she became my neighbour in Toronto, we were having coffee in her kitchen when a signed cheque blew off the counter onto the floor. Picking it up for her, I noticed the signature, M.M. Miriam. Miriam is your last name, I asked. She replied that it was the only name she used, her tone intimating that she did not wish to pursue the subject. I dropped it. One may safely assume the initials refer to the appellations she adopts in her autobiography, Mary, Maria, Mari, all variations of the name Miriam, allusions to the sea. Actually, I am uncertain what the initials stand for. I knew her simply as Miriam…”
When Miriam was first released the Minyan of Chrones debated whether this novel should be considered midrash. Soon to be re-released, Miriam; An Autobiography, is a novel designed for the internet, unfortunately before there was one.
