The way the world works : essays

Nicholson Baker’s non-fiction, at its best, is as supple and textured and form fittingly precise as his fiction. The very first essay in this collection, “String”, is proof enough. It is a meditation on childhood, growth, the string that connects us to our kites and to each other, and the limits of any length of string. After reading “String”, you may want to stop safe in the knowledge that nothing else Baker could produce could equal this. You might be right. But then you would miss out on the care he takes over his copybooks in “Narrow Ruled”, and the anguish he experienced at the death of Thorin Oakenshield when his mother read him The Hobbit. And you would definitely want to chase along with his enthusiasms—for show more telephones, and Updike, and newspapers, and The New Yorker, and Wikipedia, and even for libraries (of a certain sort).

In any collection of writing across a fifteen-year span, you will expect to find a degree of variance. Here, not so much. But then this is mid-career Baker (one certainly hopes!). Most of these pieces are written well within his comfort zone. His reflective, ruminative strengths in fiction are all present here. Less certain are his argumentative pieces. Although obviously well researched, their focus can seem blinkered, as though a forest may in fact be hidden behind this ever so fascinating tree. What is a blessing for his ruminative writing and his fiction may not necessarily be helpful in formulating cogent argument.

Then there are the challenges he sets himself, such as exploring the world of action/adventure video games, which might dismay you. What strange economic forces could drive one the finest writers in America to spend hours, days, weeks even playing first-person and third-person shooter video games? Even though the resulting fish-out-of-water essay is a treasure, I found myself wishing The New Yorker had set him some different, more worthwhile task. Like flying a kite. Recommended. show less

One might not always find oneself in complete agreement with Nicholson Baker on any given topic (I certainly do not), but he writes well, and interestingly, about a broad range of topics in this collection of short essays. Everything from microfilm to pacifism to Maine dumps to Daniel Defoe to David Remnick gets its few pages here, and the essays are all worth a read.

A great collection from a favorite writer. Before I was halfway through my library copy, I had ordered this from the bookstore, knowing I'd want to reread some of it, as well as press it on friends.

I don't necessarily agree with everything he says -- for example, I do like my Kindle for many things. But I enjoy the felicity and intelligence of his writing, and he always makes me think.

Some of the essays in this collection are great, outstanding really and there are others that are quite a bore and not really worth much consideration. The ones in the latter category fall under the purview of introductions (mostly) or quippy pieces that Baker likely dashed off for one publication or another. The really great ones, which the exception of "One Summer", are the longer, more intricate explorations, pretty much all of the pieces in the Technology section and the War section, notably "Painkiller Deathstreak" and "Kindle 2". Read these essays, they're awesome but don't spend your time in the whole collection.

A mixed bag as it usually is with collections like these. Some of the essays are great, some good, and a few so-so. Baker is a writer who is consistently eloquent and interesting. I especially enjoyed his essays on libraries and reading.

A curate's egg collection of essays. The author gets very steamed up about libraries and old newspapers. Bought book as a remainder.

Rationed chaos. I love Baker.