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Title: Nicholson, NO!
Review: Oh Nicholson Baker, just when I'm about to crown you my favorite and grudgingly pass all of your books along to my best friends, I read "A Box of Matches," a novel which is less novel than a writing exercise legitimized as literature by a printer. I was shocked by "VOX" and fawned over "The Fermata," I even loved "Double Fold," his non-fiction turn on the assault on paper. But this book will make most of you feel like you are wasting your time.A man wakes up every morning around five, lights a match, and thinks. That's it. His thoughts range from piquant to gross to nostalgic to melancholy. I'm not the kind of reader to expect world-changing events to take place in my literature. But I do like to care about my characters -- and this guy didn't cut it. Pick up one of Baker's other, more worthwhile books.
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