17/10/15: Nicholson Baker – Traveling Sprinkler (2013)

An amiable sequel to The Anthologist, switching the musings on writing poetry to musings on writing songs. Much of the book involves descriptions of day-to-day life – smoking a cigar, driving the car, learning to use music software, trying to win back a girlfriend – and as a novel it's almost plotless, allowing you to focus on the narrator's voice and personality. It lacks the intense detail of his earlier writing style – those ultra-detailed digressions – but gains something in worldly wisdom. As with Kurt Vonnegut, his warm, wise voice is a pleasure to spend time with.

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