Nicholson Baker’s tenth novel, The Anthologist, finds the acclaimed experimental novelist offering a pared-down love letter to poetry itself.
Never one for straightforward narrative, Baker revels in his protagonist’s meandering alienation following the loss of his girlfriend. As the poet struggles to write the introduction to an anthology, the story touches on themes of literary craft and compulsion, as well as offering an overview of poetry heavyweights — but skirts insidery navel-gazing by anchoring itself in the narrator’s own battle with banality.
Check out some Nicholson Baker quotes, digest his New Yorker essay on the Kindle, read The Washington Post‘s review of The Anthologist, and buy
the book.