“A Box of Matches” by Nicholson Baker

A Box of Matches

By Nicholson Baker
2003
192 pages. Audio: n/a
Fiction

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I have to admit that Nicholson Baker is not my favorite author. Some of his writing is downright pornographic, which I don’t care for, and some of it is, for lack of a better term, odd. For instance, Checkpoint is a very short novel about a plot to kill George W. Bush because he is such a bad president that he is destroying the world. Seems a bit quaint today—but even though it is fiction it seems tasteless to me.

But my task here is not to review bad novels but good ones. And Baker’s 2003 short novel, A Box of Matches, most surely qualifies. It is absolutely lovely. I often get the impression in Baker’s writing that he’s desperately trying to get noticed by doing something controversial. It often winds up merely looking pretentious to me, but this book couldn’t be less pretentious.

The book is basically plotless, which I know won’t be enticing to many readers. But in this case, it’s all about the trip and not the destination. And a very short trip it is—one can easily read this book in an evening.

Our intrepid narrator is Emmett, and there is nothing special about him at all. He is the epitome of American domesticity. What makes Emmett such wonderful company is that he is delighted with the world. That’s right. We actually have a narrator here who loves all the little things that go into our everyday lives. He notices everything and describes it in such a loving detail that, by the time the book is over, we too are more delighted by the things of ordinary life.

One of my favorite bits in the book is Emmett’s description of trying to negotiate a trip to the bathroom at night without turning on the light. It is hilarious, truthful, and even moving.

This is a great book for preachers. Baker is such a brilliant stylist that we can learn much about how to talk of ordinary things in ways that immediately get the nod of recognition from our listeners. And wouldn’t it be a better world if we all could take greater joy in the wonders that surround us every day? Emmett is the kind of person I would like to be. In his excellent review, Walter Kirn describes Emmett as “about as alienated as a spatula.” (I wish I had written that line.)

To my way of thinking, this is an utterly unique book. I know of no other book where so little happens. Emmett does seem to be dealing with some sort of grief (though we have no idea what it is), but he is clearly in love with his family and with his life. Every little thing brings him joy.

Typically I like books with lots of action, complex plots, fully developed characters, and rousing conclusions with unexpected twists. So I feel somewhat awed that Baker could make me fall in love with a book that has none of those elements. And what’s better, he made me fall a little more in love with my life.