I'm nervous about getting through this one. While I love Nicholson Baker, I remember starting this book once before and not being able to get into it. It's a non-fiction book about the fact that we, as a country, have scanned our newspaper archives onto microfilm and destroyed the originals.
Which, I'll admit, doesn't sound like a great idea (microfilm? that crap?). But... does it merit a whole book's worth of discourse? Not so sure. Also, there are a buttload of endnotes, which is going to make me unhappy.
Of course, if we've destroyed the originals, there's no way to re-scan now with better technology. I'm going to guess that's part of Baker's point. We'll see.
love,
kelly
PS -- Interesting note: My copy is signed! :)
Hmmm. I can see the problems with this one, but I'll be curious to see how it turns out. Just today in class I was teaching about Cassandra...maybe he'll end up being so eerily accurate in his predictions that you'll find it fascinating!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of squirm-inducing, have you heard about his latest book? It's called House of Holes and came out sometime last year. Apparently, it is *beyond* profane. I'd steer clear if I were you.
J
Oh yeah. Already saw that one and have given it a *wide* berth. Blech!
ReplyDelete