Opinion, Berkeley Blogs

"The Anthologist"

By Anthony Cascardi

For anyone with an interest in poets and poetry--including in the strangeness of the genre--I recommend Nicholson Baker's new book The Anthologist.  Take a tour of the quirky and erratic thoughts of a minor poet as he decides what to include in an anthology of poetry and what to omit.  Follow his girlfriend's frustrations at the fact that he can't seem to get very far with the project at all.  And learn, in the process, a bit about what makes Nicholson Baker tick.  I laughed out loud reading this book!