B & Me

Starred review from December 1, 2014
Hallman (In Utopia) is a talented writer, but more than that, he is an obsessive reader. As he states at the start of this witty literary study, he had long known of Nicholson Baker’s work, but had never read any of his books until encountering Baker’s U and I, about Baker’s literary relationship to Updike. At that point, Hallman conceived of writing a book following the entire process of discovering a new author. While working his way through Baker’s bibliography, he draws heady parallels between it and Hallman’s own books, reflects on the experiences of writers and readers, and charts the ups and downs of his relationship with girlfriend Catherine. The result is a wide-ranging and idiosyncratic career survey for Nicholson Baker’s work, a love letter to the act of reading, and a commentary on the modern novel. It’s difficult to do Hallman’s work justice, but this is a book that readers will absolutely adore. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary.