Nicholson Baker
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Nicholson Baker (born January 7, 1957) is an American novelist and essayist. His fiction generally de-emphasizes narrative in favor of careful description and characterization. His early novels such as '' The Mezzanine'' and ''
Room Temperature Room temperature, colloquially, denotes the range of air temperatures most people find comfortable indoors while dressed in typical clothing. Comfortable temperatures can be extended beyond this range depending on humidity, air circulation, and ...
'' were distinguished by their minute inspection of his characters' and narrators'
stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...
. Out of a total of ten novels, three are erotica: '' Vox'', ''
The Fermata ''The Fermata'' is a 1994 erotic novel by Nicholson Baker. It is about a man named Arno Strine who can stop time, and uses this ability to embark on a series of sexual adventures. Like Baker's previous novel ''Vox'', ''The Fermata'' was controv ...
'' and ''
House of Holes ''House of Holes'' (originally published as ''House of Holes: A Book of Raunch'') is a 2011 novel by American writer Nicholson Baker. It consists of a series of chapters that are more or less connected (some more, some less) which tell of the se ...
''. Baker also writes non-fiction books. '' U and I: A True Story'', about his relationship with
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
, was published in 1991. He then wrote about the American library system in his 2001 book '' Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper'', for which he received a
National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Calw Hermann Hesse Prize for the German translation. A
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...
, he wrote ''
Human Smoke ''Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization'' is a 2008 book by Nicholson Baker about World War II. It questions the commonly held belief that the Allies of World War II, Allies wanted to avoid the war at all costs but ...
'' (2008) about the buildup to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Baker has published articles in ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', the ''
London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...
'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', among other periodicals. Baker created the
American Newspaper Repository The American Newspaper Repository is a charity whose purpose is to collect and preserve original copies of American newspapers. It was founded in 1999 by the author Nicholson Baker when he learnt that the British Library was disposing of its coll ...
in 1999. He has also written about and edited
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
.


Life

Nicholson Baker was born in 1957 in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He studied briefly at the
Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. Established in 1921 by celebrated industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, it was the ...
and received a B.A. in English from
Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...
. Baker describes himself as an atheist, although he occasionally visits
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
meetings. Baker says he has "always had pacifist leanings." Baker met his wife, Margaret Brentano, in college; they live in Maine and have two grown children.


Career

Baker established a name for himself with the novels '' The Mezzanine'' (1988) and ''
Room Temperature Room temperature, colloquially, denotes the range of air temperatures most people find comfortable indoors while dressed in typical clothing. Comfortable temperatures can be extended beyond this range depending on humidity, air circulation, and ...
'' (1990). Both novels have for the most part a very limited time span. ''The Mezzanine'' occurs over the course of an escalator journey and ''Room Temperature'' happens while a father feeds his baby daughter. '' U and I: A True Story'' (1991) is a non-fiction study of how a reader engages with an author's work. It is partly about Baker's appreciation for the work of
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
and partly a self-exploration. Rather than giving a traditional literary analysis, Baker begins the book by stating that he will read no more Updike than he already has up to that point. All of the Updike quotations used are presented as coming from memory alone, and many are inaccurate, with correct versions and Baker's (later) commentary on the inaccuracies. Critics group together '' Vox'', ''
The Fermata ''The Fermata'' is a 1994 erotic novel by Nicholson Baker. It is about a man named Arno Strine who can stop time, and uses this ability to embark on a series of sexual adventures. Like Baker's previous novel ''Vox'', ''The Fermata'' was controv ...
'' and ''
House of Holes ''House of Holes'' (originally published as ''House of Holes: A Book of Raunch'') is a 2011 novel by American writer Nicholson Baker. It consists of a series of chapters that are more or less connected (some more, some less) which tell of the se ...
'' since they are all erotic novels. ''Vox'' (1992) consists of an episode of
phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. As a practice between individuals temporarily separated, it is as ...
between two young single people on a pay-per-minute chat line. The book was Baker's first ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' bestseller and
Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern ...
gave a copy to President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
when they were having an affair. In ''Vox'', Baker coined the word ''femalia''. ''The Fermata'' (1994) also addresses erotic life and fantasy. The protagonist Arno Strine likes to stop time and take off women's clothes. The work proved controversial with critics. It was also a
bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
. ''House of Holes'' (2011) is about a fantastical place where all sexual perversions and fetishes are permitted. It is a collection of stories, more or less connected to each other. The novellas are erotic in the sense of
Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...
's '' Decameron''. The titular House of Holes is a fantasy sex resort in which people can engage in absurd sexual practices, such as groin transference and sex with trees. Akin to ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
'', people enter the House of Holes through such techniques as tumbling through a clothes dryer or through a drinking straw. Baker is a fervent critic of what he perceives as libraries' unnecessary destruction of paper-based media. He wrote several vehement articles in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' critical of the San Francisco Public Library for sending thousands of books to a landfill, eliminating card catalogs, and destroying old books and newspapers in favor of
microfilm A microform is a scaled-down reproduction of a document, typically either photographic film or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original d ...
. In 1997, Baker received the San Francisco–based James Madison Freedom of Information Award in recognition of these efforts. In 1999, Baker established a non-profit corporation, the
American Newspaper Repository The American Newspaper Repository is a charity whose purpose is to collect and preserve original copies of American newspapers. It was founded in 1999 by the author Nicholson Baker when he learnt that the British Library was disposing of its coll ...
, to rescue old newspapers from destruction by libraries. In 2001, he published '' Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper'' about preservation, newspapers, and the American library system. An excerpt first appeared in the July 24, 2000, issue of ''The New Yorker'', under the title "Deadline: The Author's Desperate Bid to Save America's Past." The exhaustively researched work (there are 63 pages of endnotes and 18 pages of references in the paperback edition) details Baker's quest to uncover the fate of thousands of books and newspapers that were replaced and often destroyed during the microfilming boom of the 1980s and 1990s. The 2004 novel '' Checkpoint'' is composed of dialogue between two old high school friends, Jay and Ben, who discuss Jay's plans to assassinate President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
. '' Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization'' (2008) is a history of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
that questions the commonly held belief that the Allies wanted to avoid the war at all costs but were forced into action by Hitler's unforgiving actions. It consists largely of official government transcripts and other documents from the time. He suggests that the pacifists were correct in their views. In March 2008, Baker reviewed John Broughton's '' Wikipedia: The Missing Manual'' in the ''
New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
''. In the review, Baker described Wikipedia's beginnings, its culture, and his own editing activities under the username "Wageless". His article "How I fell in love with Wikipedia" was published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper in the UK on April 10, 2008. '' The Anthologist'' (2009) is narrated by Paul Chowder, a poet, who is attempting to write an introduction to a poetry anthology. Distracted by problems in his life, he is unable to begin writing, and instead ruminates on poets and poetry throughout history. Also in 2009, Baker reviewed Ken Auletta's '' Googled: The End of the World as We Know It'' in the New York Times. Auletta responded by sending a letter to the editor bemoaning what he perceived as the inaccuracy of Baker's review. Here is Baker's rebuttal:
Ken Auletta wrote a thought-provoking book, and I recorded several thoughts provoked. It's a book review, not a bouillon cube. I don't “imply” or “suggest” that the author agrees with the people he quotes. There is indeed an absence of warmth in this chronicle of Google as “dreaded disruptor,” but it's an impartial chilliness, extending in all directions.
In 2014, Baker spent 28 days as a substitute teacher in some Maine public schools as research for his 2016 book ''Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids''. Baker tried to find out "what life in the classroom is really like." He also wrote about the experience for ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
.'' Baker wrote a cover story for ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...
'' in January 2021 investigating the COVID-19 lab leak theory and expressing his belief in the theory’s plausibility.


Works


Fiction

* '' The Mezzanine'' (1988, Weidenfeld & Nicolson; / 1990, Vintage; ) * ''
Room Temperature Room temperature, colloquially, denotes the range of air temperatures most people find comfortable indoors while dressed in typical clothing. Comfortable temperatures can be extended beyond this range depending on humidity, air circulation, and ...
'' (1990, Grove Weidenfeld; / 1990, Vintage; / 1990, Granta; / 1991, Granta; ) * '' Vox: A Novel'' (1992, Random House; / 1992, Vintage; / 1992, Granta; ) * ''
The Fermata ''The Fermata'' is a 1994 erotic novel by Nicholson Baker. It is about a man named Arno Strine who can stop time, and uses this ability to embark on a series of sexual adventures. Like Baker's previous novel ''Vox'', ''The Fermata'' was controv ...
'' (1994, Vintage; ) * ''The Everlasting Story of Nory'' (1998, Random House; / 1998, Vintage; ) * ''A Box of Matches'' (2003, Random House; / 2003, Chatto & Windus; ) * ''Vintage Baker'' (2004, Vintage; ) * '' Checkpoint'' (2004, Random House; ) * '' The Anthologist'' (2009, Simon & Schuster; ) * '' House of Holes: A Book of Raunch'' (2011, Simon & Schuster; ) * ''Traveling Sprinkler'' (2013, Blue Rider Press; )


Non-fiction

* '' U and I: A True Story'' (1991, Random House; / 1991 Penguin/Granta; (hard) / 1992, Penguin/Granta; (paper) /1995, Vintage; / 1998, Granta; ) * ''The Size of Thoughts: Essays and Other Lumber'' (1996, Random House, / 1996, Vintage; (paper) / 1996, Chatto & Windus; (hard) / 1997, Vintage; (paper)) * '' Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper'' (2001, Random House; / 2001, Vintage; / 2002, Vintage; ) * With Margaret Brentano (his wife). '' The World on Sunday: Graphic Art in
Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born , ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and a newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in the U.S. Democ ...
's Newspaper (1898– 1911)'' (2005, Bulfinch; ) * ''
Human Smoke ''Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization'' is a 2008 book by Nicholson Baker about World War II. It questions the commonly held belief that the Allies of World War II, Allies wanted to avoid the war at all costs but ...
: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization'' (2008, Simon & Schuster; ) * '' The Way the World Works: Essays'' (2012, Simon & Schuster; ) * ''Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids'' (2016, Blue Rider Press; ) * ''Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act'' (2020, Penguin Press; ) *
Finding a Likeness: How I Got Somewhat Better at Art
' (2024, Penguin Press )


Selected essays and reporting

* * * * * * *


Music

* While working on ''Traveling Sprinkler'', Nicholson Baker posted some songs made in the style of protagonist Paul Chowder on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. The ballads combined dance music with protest songs and dealt with foreign policy agenda."Jeju Island"
201
"Terrormaker"
2012
"When you intervene"
2014
"Nine Women Gathering Firewood"
and a
song"
2014
Twelve songs were available in a deluxe e-book version of the novel and later on
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
.


Awards

*1997: James Madison Freedom of Information Award. *2001:
National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English". *2014: Baker and his German translator Eike Schönfeld won the Calw Hermann Hesse Prize for the German translation of ''Double Fold''. *2018: Baker was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
.


Further reading

* * Cox, Richard J. ''Vandals in the Stacks? A Response to Nicholson Baker's Assault on Libraries.'' Greenwood Press, 2002. * Fabre, Claire. "Aux frontières de l’intime : l’intériorité exhibée dans ''Room Temperature'' (1984) de Nicholson Baker." ''Revue française d’études américaines''. 2006. 113-121. * Richardson, Eve, "Space, Projection and the Banal in the Works of Jean-Philippe Toussaint and Nicholson Baker", in Emma Gilby et Katja Haustein (ed.), ''Space. New Dimensions in French Studies'', Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Brussels, Francfurt, New York and Vienna, Peter Lang, 2005. ("Modern French Identities", 30) * Saltzman, Arthur M. ''Understanding Nicholson Baker.'' University of South Carolina Press, 1999. * * Star, Alexander. "The Paper Pusher." ''The New Republic''. May 28, 2001. 38-41.


References


External links

* * *
Nicholson Baker
at
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, author page
Nicholson Baker, "A Debunker on the Road to World War II"
''New York Times,'' March 4, 2008 * Cox, Richard J.

* Grimes, William.

''New York Times Book Review''
"How I fell in love with Wikipedia
. ''Guardian.'' April 10, 2008 *
The Charms of Wikipedia
''New York Review of Books'', volume 55, number 4, March 20, 2008 (subscription required, see als
here
.
Interview about "Human Smoke"
on "BackStory" radio program *
Can the Kindle really improve on the book?
''New Yorker,'' August 3, 2009. On the Kindle reading device.
A radio interview with Nicholson Baker
Aired on the Lewis Burke Frumkes Radio Show. * Wroe, Nicholas.
A Life in Writing
. ''Guardian,'' 19 September 2009. An interview.
KCRW Bookworm Interview
May 4, 2002
Nicholson Baker on his literary career and how he came to write about sex
La Clé des langues - 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Nicholson 1957 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American historians of World War II Academic staff of European Graduate School Haverford College alumni The New Yorker people American male novelists American postmodern writers People from South Berwick, Maine Novelists from Maine Writers from New York City American male essayists Novelists from New York (state) 21st-century American essayists Writers from Rochester, New York Eastman School of Music alumni 21st-century American male writers National Book Critics Circle Award winners