Traveling Sprinkler

Words. Having started to read several books by Nicholson Baker, and having finished some, I’ve concluded that his love of words can become so obsessive that it requires more patience than I usually have to stay with him to the end. I finished reading his novel, Traveling Sprinkler, that reprises the character Paul Chowder, a poet from an earlier novel, The Anthologist, one that I gave up reading after a few dozen pages. Baker meanders with readers over the course of three hundred pages, finding every possible way to reinforce the sprinkler metaphor, or to digress on any number of subjects. I found some of this writing to be enjoyable, but after a while I couldn’t take Paul Chowder’s stream of consciousness any longer, and was reluctant to join him on another trip to Planet Fitness. I endured to the end, but found only mild satisfaction. Read a sample to test your own patience before you commit to reading this quirky novel. Rating: Two-star (I didn’t like it) Click here to purchase Traveling Sprinkler from amazon.com.