September Selection: The Anthologist

Title: The Anthologist
Author: Nicholas Baker
Host: Faith

From Publishers Weekly

In Baker's lovely 10th novel, readers are introduced to Paul Chowder, a study in failure, at a very dark time in his life. He has lost the two things that he values most: his girlfriend, Roz, and his ability to write. The looming introduction to an anthology of poems he owes a friend, credit card debt and frequent finger injuries aren't helping either.

Chowder narrates in a professorial and often very funny stream of consciousness as he relates his woes and shares his knowledge of poetry, and though a desire to learn about verse will certainly make the novel more accessible and interesting, it isn't a prerequisite to enjoying it. Chowder's interest in poetry extends beyond meter and enjambment; alongside discussions of craft, he explores the often sordid lives of poets (Poe, Tennyson and Rothke are just some of the poets who figuratively and literally haunt Chowder).

And when he isn't missing Roz or waxing on poetics, he busies himself with a slow and strangely compelling attempt at cleaning up his office. Baker pulls off an original and touching story, demonstrating his remarkable writing ability while putting it under a microscope.

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A Torrent of Conversation in a Torrential Rain

Normally unenthused about non-fiction selections, the group dove into discussion of Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance as if it were a plate of fresh cookies. This elegant family memoir is so much more than a recitation of facts that even the most concerted searchers for the perfectly written sentence found nothing to criticize.

Still Life with Tri-Color Hummus

Insights and Opinions

+ This is not a quick read. Every sentence is dense and information-filled. Take your time. It's worth it.
+ The heart of the book is acquisition -- the careful collection over time of something treasured -- and then the turning point, when treasured items become "stuff." How does meticulous, passionate collecting migrate into extravagant shopping and then diminish into one small collection of treasured objects whose history has been lost?
+ Astonishing to consider that none of us had ever heard of the Ephrussi family, even the art historian among us. Yet this family was as wealthy and powerful as the Rothschild family and equally influential.
+  De Waal himself is a passionate collector -- he has collected stories, and it's these stories that prevail.
+ The work is very readable, and engaging on many levels -- as social commentary, as an examination of the collector's process, and as a new view of the effects of anti-Semitism.
+ We all want to go to Paris and Vienna and visit the houses built by the Ephrussis.
+ Our question to each other:  if you had to choose one object that is the essence of your family, what would it be?
+ Keep your provenance on treasured objects. Somebody, someday, will care very much.

Oddments and Telling Details

+ We were too busy enthusing about the book to notice that it was raining pitchforks -- two inches between the beginning and end of our session.
+ Vicky invented a new cocktail which involved Campari and mint and some lemony stuff and now we want the recipe.
+ A special thank you to Joanne for sharing her grandmother's ivory shoehorn with the amber eye, and to Vicky for displaying the beautiful handmade dress she wore at the age of eight.