Short Synopsis
The Anthologist captures all the warmth, wit, and extraordinary prose style that have made award-winning author Nicholson Baker an American master.

Full Synopsis
The Anthologist is narrated by Paul Chowder—a once-in-a-while-published kind of poet who is writing the introduction to a new anthology of poetry. He's having a hard time getting started because his career is floundering; his girlfriend Roz has recently left him; and he is thinking about the great poets throughout history who have suffered far worse and deserve to feel sorry for themselves. He has also promised to reveal many wonderful secrets and tips and tricks about poetry, and it looks like the introduction will be a little longer than he'd thought.

What unfolds is a wholly entertaining and beguiling love story about poetry: from Tennyson, Swinburne, and Yeats to the moderns (Roethke, Bogan, Merwin) to the staff of the New Yorker, what Paul reveals is astonishing and makes one realize how incredible important poetry is to our lives. At the same time, Paul barely manages to realize all of this himself, and the result is a tenderly romantic, hilarious, and inspired novel.

"You become so engaged by Chowder's narrative voice...that his loneliness and his valiant attempts to cope with despair creep up on you. When they do, you're moved by this sincere, funny, sad man." ---Entertainment Weekly

"Baker is a hybrid of past and future. His style has a meditative echo, like a man in a cave walking toward a light on the other end." ---Los Angeles Times

"Baker pulls off an original and touching story, demonstrating his remarkable writing ability while putting it under a microscope." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Startlingly perceptive and ardent....Chowder is possibly the most appealing narrator Baker has invented." ---The New York Times Book Review

"A slyly intelligent rant about the crazy paradoxes of artistic careerism, and a casual and hilarious series of lessons on poetry." ---O: The Oprah Magazine

"A witty satire of literary culture." ---The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly Review