Audio Interview with author Nicholson Baker: On the Future of the Book
Nicholson Baker (born January 7, 1957) is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction. As a novelist he often focuses on describing the minute physical detail of our surroundings, straws and escalators for example, writing on provocative topics such as voyeurism, phone sex and planned assassination. Enthusiasts laud his ability to explore and illuminate the human psyche, critics call him a boring gadfly. Much of his non-fiction deals with the printed word, how it’s presented, stored, consumed.
We talk here about the future of the book, ebooks, the ipad, the Kindle, brodart dust jacket covers, Daniel Dafoe, bloggers, CIA, weapons scientists at the Library of Congress, letterpress printing and the pulling of books off shelves.
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March 24th, 2010 at 9:59 PM
Great talk!
June 30th, 2010 at 12:53 PM
I am so glad I tripped upon this from one of my email newsletters on reading and writing. It was a worthwhile distraction
I read Mr. Baker’s “Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper” back in 2001 and posted a brief review on my web space. To make this interesting (perhaps), I wrote the review in one of my paper journals, transcribed to HTML then a few years later converted to PDF when I was cleaning up old pages. Now there’s a link to it on my new blog
My, how times change but not my love and respect for books.
I like Mr. Baker’s quote “Brute persistence to an object…” The other day, a poet friend gave me a signed copy of his recent book. I was touched by his inscription and will cherish it for many, many years. My avid reader daughter wants a Kindle for her BA graduation present in 2011. The book cases in her room are overflowing as is my pride for her quest to learn. She is pumped at the thought of possessing hundreds of copies of the public domain classics at her fingertips.
I am supposed to be wrapping up the last chapters for a novel I wish to release this year. (and OMG, it has Christian and romance undertones!) Even with all of the e-publishing options, I really want to have a discerning editor, committed publisher and a hundred or so printed copies with hopes that people will want to hold, read and yes, even dog-ear some pages.
Thank you for posting this interview.