Exploring the craft of painting, the author embarks on a personal journey during the COVID-19 pandemic, learning through books, workshops, and tutorials. Along the way, he reflects on the influences of past artists he admires, intertwining his artistic growth with insightful observations about the creative process.
Nicholson Baker Book order
Nicholson Baker is celebrated for his keen observation of everyday life, transforming seemingly mundane moments into profoundly resonant experiences. His style is marked by precise prose and an unflinching focus on details that reveal the hidden complexities of our world. Baker delves into themes of memory, time, and the nature of reality, often with a subtle wit and irony. His works invite readers to contemplate the constant flow of existence and the astonishing beauty found in the ordinary.







- 2024
- 2020
Baseless
- 464 pages
- 17 hours of reading
Ten years into researching the potential use of biological weapons by the United States during the Korean War, Nicholson Baker faced frustration and disillusionment, particularly with the FOIA process. He encountered long waits for responses, often receiving documents heavily redacted to the point of being illegible. Rather than remain stagnant, Baker decided to keep a personal journal of his obstructed research, documenting his correspondence with government officials who hindered his requests. This led to a unique and compelling narrative that delves into some of the darkest secrets of the CIA and US government, which are often concealed despite the Freedom of Information Act. In his clear and unpretentious style, Baker reveals disturbing stories of CIA programs involving weaponized insects and the intentional spread of Lyme disease, as well as dangerous military experiments on unsuspecting citizens and harmful chemical munitions used against innocent civilians abroad. Alongside these revelations, he shares poignant moments from his life in Maine, such as feeding his dogs and watching the dawn. The result is a powerful exploration of waiting, bureaucracy, the horrors of war, and the lethal secrets that the US government keeps hidden from its people.
- 2018
Il supplente. A scuola con mille bambini
- 848 pages
- 30 hours of reading
I supplenti hanno vita difficile. L'ha sperimentato anche Nicholson Baker, saggista e romanziere americano che nel 2014 diventa supplente a chiamata in un distretto scolastico del Maine. Lo aspettano ventotto giorni di insegnamento e quasi mille bambini e ragazzi di tutte le età, dall'asilo alla scuola superiore. Baker sceglie di raccontare la sua esperienza non nella forma di un libro di teoria pedagogica né di cupa diagnosi sullo stato di salute del sistema scolastico, ma con un resoconto dettagliato della vita reale delle classi e di chi le popola. Baker restituisce così il senso vissuto di quanto possa essere indaffarato, complicato, strano e lungo un giorno di scuola, di quanti alti e bassi ci siano e di quanto la scuola possa essere estenuante - e talvolta divertente - tanto per gli insegnanti quanto per gli studenti.
- 2016
Unabh. Forts. v. "Der Anthologist". - Der Protagonist, der amerikanische Lyriker Paul, erzielt einen beruflichen Achtungserfolg, träumt von Musik und Tabaksorten, jagt seiner Ex-Freundin hinterher und liebt das Leben mit allen Kompromissen
- 2016
Fünfzehn Jahre nach seinem Essayband «U & I – Wie groß sind die Gedanken?» wendet sich Nicholson Baker ein weiteres Mal diversen Problemen der Welterklärung zu und erzeugt bei ihrer Lösung eine funkensprühende, lachmuskelstrapazierende und zugleich stark informationshaltige Kunst. Die hier versammelten Perlen seiner Essayistik beschäftigen sich unter anderem mit der spezifischen Plattheit von Murmeltierschwänzen, der richtigen Technik des Abschreibens, dem Drachensteigenlassen, dem Gondelverkehr in Venedig, mit «Sex and the City» um 1840, mit dem kometenhaften Aufstieg der Lesegeräte sowie dem Rasenmähen. Klug, unterhaltsam und voller überraschender Entdeckungen.
- 2014
Travelling Sprinkler
- 291 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Paul Chowder is a poet, but he's fallen out of love with writing poems. He hasn't fallen out of love with his ex-girlfriend Roz, though. In fact he misses her desperately. As he struggles to come to terms with Roz's new relationship with a doctor, Paul turns to his acoustic guitar for comfort and inspiration, and fills his days writing protest songs, going to Quaker meetings, struggling through Planet Fitness workouts, wondering if he could become a techno DJ, and experimenting with becoming a cigar smoker.
- 2013
Libidárium: pronikavě lascivní román
- 300 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Tato erotická groteska se odehrává v prapodivném fantazijním světě zvaném Libidárium, kde je možné splnit si jakoukoli touhu, byť za nemalou cenu: kupříkladu větší, tlustší úd je k mání za pravou ruku. Díky výměně pohlavních orgánů můžou pánové konečně poznat, jaké to je být přeříznut vlastním penisem, zatímco ženy kopulují s roztouženými stromy, holdují romantickým projížďkám na masturbárkách či klitorisurfují po jezeře, v jehož hlubinách se ukrývá chujochneská příšera. Nejedná se o typicky maskulinní pornoromán, neboť ženy nejsou v Libidáriu pouhými sexuálními objekty, nýbrž náruživými klientkami, jež se zde bezostyšně oddávají svým nejtajnějším erotickým fantaziím.
- 2011
House of Holes
- 262 pages
- 10 hours of reading
Presents an explicit new tale of carnal improprieties and comic raunchiness set in a surreal but familiar world of fantasy sex. A fuse-blowing, sex-positive escapade. Baker returns to erotic territory with a gleefully over-the-top novel set in a pleasure resort where normal rules don't apply. In charge of day-to-day operations is Lila, a former hospital administrator whose breast milk has unusual regenerative properties.
- 2009
From the author of the acclaimed Human Smoke comes a brilliantly funny and skillfully crafted new novel.
- 2009
Human Smoke
- 566 pages
- 20 hours of reading
At a time when the West seems ever more eager to call on military aggression as a means of securing international peace, Nicholson Baker's provocative narrative exploring the political misjudgements and personal biases that gave birth to the terrifying consequences of the Second World War could not be more pertinent. With original and controversial insights brought about by meticulous research, Human Smokere-evaluates the political turning points that led up to war, challenging some of the treasured myths we hold about how war came about and how atrocities like the Holocaust were able to happen. Baker reminds us, for instance, not to forget that it was thanks in great part to Churchill and England that Mussolini ascended to power so quickly, and that, before leading the United States against Nazi Germany, a young FDR spent much of his time lobbying for a restriction in the number of Jews admitted to Harvard. Conversely, Human Smokealsoreminds us of those who had the foresight to anticipate the coming bloodshed and the courage to oppose the tide of history, as Gandhi demonstrated when he made his symbolic walk to the ocean. Praised by critics and readers alike for his gifted writing and exquisitely observant eye, Baker offers a combination of sweeping narrative history and a series of finely delineated vignettes of the individuals and moments that shaped history.





