Download Ebook Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker
It is so simple, isn't it? Why don't you try it? In this website, you could additionally discover various other titles of the Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker book collections that may be able to aid you finding the best remedy of your work. Reading this publication Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker in soft file will certainly likewise relieve you to get the resource quickly. You could not bring for those publications to someplace you go. Just with the gadget that consistently be with your anywhere, you could read this book Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker So, it will be so quickly to complete reading this Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker
Download Ebook Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker. In what instance do you like reading so a lot? Exactly what regarding the kind of the e-book Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker The should review? Well, everybody has their own reason needs to read some books Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker Mostly, it will certainly associate to their need to obtain knowledge from guide Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker and also desire to review merely to obtain amusement. Stories, story publication, as well as various other entertaining e-books come to be so popular now. Besides, the scientific e-books will certainly additionally be the best need to select, specifically for the pupils, educators, doctors, business owner, and also other occupations which are fond of reading.
The means to get this book Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker is very simple. You may not go for some areas as well as spend the moment to just find the book Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker As a matter of fact, you may not always obtain guide as you're willing. Yet below, only by search as well as discover Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker, you could get the listings of guides that you really anticipate. Sometimes, there are lots of publications that are showed. Those books obviously will astonish you as this Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker collection.
Are you interested in mostly books Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker If you are still perplexed on which one of guide Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker that ought to be purchased, it is your time to not this website to search for. Today, you will need this Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker as the most referred book and a lot of required publication as resources, in various other time, you could enjoy for some other publications. It will certainly rely on your ready requirements. Yet, we constantly suggest that publications Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker can be a great invasion for your life.
Even we discuss the books Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker; you could not discover the published books here. So many collections are supplied in soft data. It will exactly provide you a lot more perks. Why? The first is that you could not have to carry guide almost everywhere by fulfilling the bag with this Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker It is for the book is in soft file, so you can save it in gadget. After that, you could open up the gizmo all over and also review guide correctly. Those are some couple of benefits that can be got. So, take all advantages of getting this soft data publication Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, By Nicholson Baker in this site by downloading and install in link supplied.
Paul Chowder, the poet protagonist of Nicholson Baker’s widely acclaimed novel The Anthologist, is turning fifty-five and missing his ex-girlfriend, Roz, rather desperately.
As he approaches the dreaded birthday, Paul is uninspired by his usual artistic outlet (although he’s pleased that his poetry anthology, Only Rhyme, is selling “steadily”). Putting aside poetry in favor of music, and drawing on his classical bassoon training, Paul turns instead to his new acoustic guitar with one goal in mind: to learn songwriting. As he struggles to come to terms with the horror of America’s drone wars and Roz’s recent relationship with a local NPR radio host, Paul fills his days with Quaker meetings, Planet Fitness workouts, and some experiments with tobacco. Written in Baker’s beautifully unconventional prose, and scored with musical influences from Debussy to Tracy Chapman to Paul himself, Traveling Sprinkler is an enchanting, hilarious—and very necessary—novel by one of the most beloved and influential writers today.
- Sales Rank: #453399 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Blue Rider Press
- Published on: 2013-09-17
- Released on: 2013-09-17
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x 1.00" w x 5.75" l, .95 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 304 pages
Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
From Publishers Weekly
Paul Chowder, the rambling protagonist of The Anthologist, returns in Baker's less successful latest. Between trips to Planet Fitness and disquisitions on subjects such as dance music and automobile maintenance, Chowder dwells on drones and other topics of a geopolitical nature. From lamenting his own inability to find (or keep) a girlfriend to decrying the truly evil nature of global agriculture industry giant Monsanto, Chowder hurls out his grievances in a gushing, sorrowful soliloquy while striving to reinvent himself by rekindling his old musical aspirations and buying himself a cheap guitar at Best Buy for his birthday. Though the stream-of-consciousness narrative wears thin, the character of Chowder—epic loser and literary striver—feels very real and is almost endearing. He is a study in contemporary dislocation, unable though he is to make any sense of his own condition. But that's fine; for all Chowder really craves, like the homeless guy on the corner, is an audience he can chirp at for the duration: Hey, Junior Birdmen. I'm Paul Chowder and I'm here in the blindingness of noon near the chicken hut talking to you about the things that need to be talked about. You know what they are. Agent: Melanie Jackson, Melanie Jackson Agency. (Sept.)
From Booklist
Adventurous novelist and essayist Baker (The Way the World Works, 2012) rejoins the eccentric, romantic, and hapless New Hampshire poet Paul Chowder, first met in The Anthologist (2009). Paul finally finished his anthology, but he still pines for his lover, Roz, who is now involved with a doctor. Paul is supposed to be writing a new book of poems, but instead he’s taking care of his neighbor’s chickens, smoking cigars, attending Quaker meetings, pondering killer drones, and attempting to write songs—goofy love songs, feeble protest songs. A bassoonist in his youth, Paul returns to music with quirky intent, trailing off into hilariously opinionated disquisitions and buying recording equipment he can ill afford and with which he becomes obsessed, just as he cherishes his vintage traveling sprinklers. Paul himself is such a gadget, showering us with a whirling cascade of consciousness as he traces his circling days, his meandering thoughts, always coming back to Roz, and to hope. Baker’s endearingly comedic, covertly philosophical love story, spiked with intriguing—even alarming—little-known facts, mischievously celebrates song and silence, steadfastness and loving-kindness. --Donna Seaman
Review
“In sparkling and witty prose, Baker reminds readers why he’s one of the masters of the contemporary novel.”
—Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
“[Traveling Sprinkler] is a delight: funny, tender and endearingly bonkers…[Baker imbues] Chowder not only with a feverish intellectual curiosity but with a generosity of spirit….every page contains wonderful writing, and ridiculous but intriguing digressions. Baker has a strange and interesting mind, and a life-enhancing wit to go with it. Traveling Sprinkler sees him at the top of his form.”
—Terence Blacker, The Independent, UK
“If you love Nicholson Baker's fiction, Traveling Sprinkler will easily feed your jones.”—Shelf Awareness
“Baker’s endearingly comedic, covertly philosophical love story, spiked with intriguing—even alarming—little-known facts, mischievously celebrates song and silence, steadfastness and loving-kindness”—Booklist
"There are lots of reasons to love Traveling Sprinkler: Baker gets sweeter with each new book, and underneath the sweetness lie witty arguments about poetry and song and taste."—Lorin Stein, The Paris Review
“We’re at the point where saying that Nicholson Baker is one of our truly greatest writers isn’t pure hyperbole…and with [Traveling Sprinkler], which features a return from the main character of 2009's The Anthologist, he’s piling another great book atop his impressive stack.”– Flavorwire, 10 Must-Read Books for September
“Nicholson Baker's utterly charming new novel, Traveling Sprinkler, is discursive, quirky, and consistently engaging....an unmitigated pleasure to read...His characters struggle with grief, regret and existential angst, but they are happy, lucky, warm-hearted people—and we are eager to remain in their company for as long as their author will let us.”—Raina Lipsitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Paul [Chowder] is such a figure: idiosyncratic, unashamed of his quirks and ticks and odd obsessions, not unlike the author who created him....an example of the novel as slice of life, full of digressions that are themselves the point.”—David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
“As always with Baker, the many pages spent discussing the details of a protagonist’s activities and interests can take on a hypnotic allure . . . Baker’s great achievement is to make description and characterization do the work of narration . . . Baker can write pages of transfixing details that end up revealing the emotional workings of his narrators.”
—Ken Tucker, The Daily Beast
“You read [Nicholson Baker] for the way he wields his enviable vocabulary to capture the often hilarious and surprisingly intriguing and endearing mental machinations of his eccentric characters. You read him because, at his best, he makes you sit up and take notice of things you tend to overlook.”—Heller McAlpin, NPR.com
“In Traveling Sprinkler, a sequel of sorts to The Anthologist, Nicholson Baker resurrects the incorrigible procrastinator Paul Chowder...The literary sequel is a rare beast to begin with; Mr. Baker here joins the ranks of D.H. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and—I suppose if we wanted to go there—John Milton, all writers who dared to pen a follow-up to a masterpiece....Baker is as good a cultural critic as he is a novelist.”
—Michael Miller, The New York Observer
“Lucky for us, the writer's block that poet Paul Chowder battled in the 2009 comic novel The Anthologist is still wreaking havoc with his creative process. His struggles continue in Nicholson Baker's new novel, Traveling Sprinkler, the second to feature Chowder and his wonderfully wry and witty first-person narration....readers fell in love with Baker's lovable but bumbling hero....endlessly fascinating...Chowder's rambling this-is-your-brain on music musings on the bassoon — on Debussy's "The Sunken Cathedral," Paul McCartney's "Blackbird," Tracy Chapman's "Change," even the score for The Bourne Identity — are poetically charged and wonderful to read....a truly harmonious and wonderfully entertaining story.”
—Carol Memmott, Chicago Tribune
“Like the sprinkler, whose journey across a yard may look aimless, by the end of the novel, Paul has managed to nourish almost everyone he comes in contact with, including the reader. . . While his lyrics have a certain deadpan hilarity, Paul’s writing about music and poetry is thoughtful in its clarity. . . . [T]here is a method to Paul’s wooing, and the two dear, quirky people are impossible for a certain kind of reader – this one most definitely included – to resist.”
—Yvonne Zipp, The Christian Science Monitor
“In a sense, he is a modern-day troubadour, working to create a hit number, and by doing so, to earn the love of a lady....Chowder’s devotion to Roz is simple and beautiful, but for me, the best part of “Traveling Sprinkler” is the time he spends thinking about music....his protagonist’s observations are crisp and lively....a passionate book, one that will delight readers who respond to a congenial, if sometimes hapless, speaker describing the many things that enrich his life.”—Tom Zelman, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“[Baker’s protagonist] makes a metaphor for his life from the gardening implement of the book's title....There's a narrative arc to this book, to be sure — it turns out to be a love story. But the real point is the language....[a] narrative with vivid imagery, unexpected juxtapositions and fresh metaphors.”
—Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times
“Impeccable...oddly moving...[Baker] writes eloquently, even adamantly...This is a joyful book, and a melancholy book, and a "political" book not because it talks about drone warfare, but because it is titled Traveling Sprinkler.”
—Theo Schell-Lambert, San Francisco Chronicle
“I know of no other novelist as sweetly charming, so capable of life-affirming gusts of tender prose.”—Jason McBride, Toronto Globe & Mail
“Can be read as a curious coming-of-age novel. And a funny, abundantly textured, warmhearted one.”—Jonathan Miles, New York Times Book Review
“[A] rambunctious, rambling, rollicking novel where voice and insight are all...Chowder’s voice sparkles, delights, meanders and bristles with melodies, images, worries and self-doubts....I loved it.”
—Sam Coale, Providence Journal
“Baker’s eccentric protagonist from The Anthologist, is back; this time around, he’s focused on songwriting instead of poetry. As it does in all his books, Baker’s prose shines with warm humor, sharp insights, and digressive attention to detail.”
—Deirdre Fulton, The Providence Phoenix Best of 2013
“Traveling Sprinkler is Baker’s latest expert dissection of everyday life….teeming details are brilliantly gleaned by Baker from his character’s thoughts….technical mastery and irresistible sentimentality make Traveling Sprinkler fly.”
—Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times (London)
Most helpful customer reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
A glimpse into a cluttered mind
By TChris
Some writers have a knack for making readers feel good, not because they're describing a good world, but because they describe a rotten world in a good-natured way. Nicholson Baker reminds us that the world isn't all bad (even if the news is), that it's filled with well-intentioned (if sometimes misguided) people, and that much of what we fret about is silly, although much (like drones dropping bombs on children) provides good reason to wear a misery hat.
At 55, Paul Chowder (last seen in The Anthologist) is a bit late for a mid-life crisis but he's having one anyway. Chowder is struggling to shape a new identity. He'd like to write protest songs. He'd like to have big lips because he thinks women find them attractive. He'd like to get back together with Roz. He'd like to help people. He'd like to stop eating the peanut butter crackers that are giving him a potbelly.
Chowder figures that after publishing three collections and an anthology, he is finished as a poet. In his youth, Chowder gave up the bassoon for poetry; now he is learning to play a cheap guitar. His friend Tim tells him that taking up the guitar is "a middle-aged thing to do," that he'll be like the people at faculty parties who "sneak off and play Clapton Unplugged and Blind Lemon Jefferson." The wry humor in that observation, and in Chowder's response ("Exactly"), sets the tone for Traveling Sprinkler.
Just as the pleasure of music derives from "the singularity of every utterance," the unique nature of every individual's thought patterns is well illustrated in Traveling Sprinkler. Chowder invites the reader into his cluttered mind, chatting amiably about his scattered opinions and memories. Readers who are looking for some semblance of a plot might be put off but I found it engaging, largely because Chowder's thoughts are so amusing. He talks about self-improvement, cigars, movies, his theory of metaphorical interference, corncob pipes, poetry, Quaker meetings, his car, experts, classical music, pop music, dance music, Debussy, Monsanto, Amazon (which is "using its stock price to take over all of retailing and bankrupt the world"), tradition versus progress, and (of course) traveling sprinklers. He often opines derisively about the CIA and frequently criticizes Obama as a warmonger. Readers who cannot abide left-leaning opinions should steer clear of Traveling Sprinkler.
Although I've never been thrilled with narratives in which the author addresses the reader directly, Baker makes it work. Still, a good novel benefits from characters interacting in meaningful ways with other characters, an element that is largely missing from the novel's first half. Chowder interacts with only a few characters during the course of the story (most notably, in the second half, ex-girlfriend Roz) which produces little in the way of secondary character development. My only other complaints about this thought-based novel are that the ending is too obvious and that Chowder's lectures about the construction of music are a long-winded component of an otherwise breezy story.
Baker's writing is consistently witty and often strikingly imaginative. His pain-shaped humor reminded me of Woody Allen. I admired Baker's use of a collapsed barn floor as a metaphor for the wreckage of life. I appreciated the "misery hat" as a recurring theme; you knit it for yourself "and all of a sudden you're wearing it." Baker's comparison of a Fountain of Waynes song to a scrambling quarterback waiting to launch a pass is a little slice of genius, as is the parallel he draws between a Beatles song and a Tennyson poem.
When I reached the end of Traveling Sprinkler and asked myself "What was the book about?" I groped for an answer. In part, it's about the similarities between popular culture and highbrow culture. It's about a love of words and a love of music. It's about how men cope with the fears that accompany aging. It's about the struggle to live a decent and fulfilling life. All of those themes are interwoven but they add up to something larger, something difficult to define. I suppose they add up to life. If I could, I would give Traveling Sprinkler 4 1/2 stars.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Tending one's own garden can be pretty spectacular if you are Nicholson Baker!
By Sharon - NYC
As we travel along with the protagonist, Paul Chowder of "Anthologist" fame, we are drawn into the twisting, winding path of his mind and by extension that of the author. As he purposefully, or not, writes a book about writing a hit dance-music song, we are taken along a meandering journey of the intellect . You gots your poetry, you gots your rock music, you gots extensive digressions on techno-music, some pacifism, the art of making and playing an oboe, political protest and yes, you gots some religion too! And like any good novel, there is a love interest, unconventional and tender and touching . Want to really enjoy this book? Go to one of the online music services and play the extensive and varied music which inspires our poet turned songwriter. There are pieces as varied as those of Stravinsky, Debussy and Marvin Gaye. Not only will you love the music, you will begin to really get into the mind and heart of Paul Chowder . Did I mention that the book is funny. It is, and quirky and erudite. Nicholson knows a lot about a wide array of subjects and minutiae which he shares along the way. This is one guy's journey in a difficult world and you will be captivated by his thoughts, his musings, his interests, his loves and his humanity. Guaranteed to make you smile - just a little!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
So well written, funny, and meandering!
By Ktina
Poet still seeking himself at fifty-five tries to re-connect with ex-girlfriend while trying on new identities like cigar smoker and guitar player. Parts of this book are laugh-out-loud funny. Was led to purchase this book by good review in the New Yorker. Must confess to skimming some of the parts about the bassoon and the evils of drone warfare. Glad I bought it and got reacquainted but I liked the Anthologist better.
See all 26 customer reviews...
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker PDF
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker EPub
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Doc
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker iBooks
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker rtf
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Mobipocket
Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Kindle
# Download Ebook Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Doc
# Download Ebook Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Doc
# Download Ebook Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Doc
# Download Ebook Traveling Sprinkler: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker Doc
