January Book Club: The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker~January 24th at 7:00 pm

Here are some sample reviews:

“[The Anthologist is] startlingly perceptive and ardent…Chowder is possibly the most appealing narrator Baker has invented….You don’t have to agree with these opinions; you just savor the tartness of a raw take….Baker is a beautiful writer, and bracing reader of poetry…[a] tremendous success….We read poems because they have a knack for mattering. And how pleasing it is to be so gently, so poetically reminded of that.” — David Orr, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] light, funny, deeply literary hybrid that functions both as a novel…and a lip-smacking Bakersian treatise on the joys of poetry.” — Sam Anderson, New York magazine
“Mr. Baker…slips effortlessly into the eager, friendless voice of a man who is every bit as glamorous and dynamic as his name suggests….funny, self-deprecating…delivers unexpectedly illuminating thoughts….But the real beauty of The Anthologist lies in what Paul does not overtly say….enjoy this book’s intensity. Don’t break its spell.” — Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“The Anthologist is a slyly intelligent rant about the crazy paradoxes of artistic careerism, and a casual and hilarious series of lessons on poetry…Baker’s comic brio and high-energy pace make [Chowder’s] lurching progress a winning pleasure.” — Mark Doty, O, the Oprah Magazine