Monday, March 30, 2009

Nicholson Baker

While I've always enjoyed the work of the Haverford College educated Nicholson Baker, I've never had a complete grasp for his reputation among critics. I'd be interested to hear how people feel about his early novels, particularly The Mezzanine, which I found unusually witty.

NPR on Baker

6 comments:

  1. Christopher Guerin7:21 AM

    His short story "Playing Trombone", pulished in The Atlantic in the 80's is the best, funniest fiction I've seen about life playing in a symphony orchestra.

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  2. Ha - thanks for that, Christopher. I plan to get a copy of it! --Jesse

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  3. John Brumfield11:11 AM

    I remember reading - and being floored by - a story in The New Yorker before I had ever heard of Baker. It was called "Pants on Fire" and was, I believe, incorporated as a chapter into Mezzanine in slightly altered form. He was a master of the minutiae of everyday life in those days.

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  4. Well, you can skip Human Smoke - though, of course, it's nonfiction.

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  5. Hi Guys,
    Nice to see familiar names here! If you're interested in Nick Baker you may be interested in our interview with him, last spring.

    http://www.haverford.edu/news/stories/5971/51

    Regards,
    Chris Mills

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  6. Chris: This is great. Thanks! -Jesse

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