Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: Some small things really are meaningful, and astute observations of them are indeed wise and a delight to read. But most of the small things observed in this book really have very little, if any meaning at all, and while familiar, have no resonance. Written with a nice touch, but slight in every way.
Rating: 
Summary: A damn good book that's worth the money
Review: Sure it's plotless. It's nonetheless totally involving. Don't believe anyone who tells you differently -- A BOX OF MATCHES is a damn good book that's worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: A Book of Small Pleasures
Review: There are 33 matches in a box, hence the 33 chapters in this book. Every morning (each chapter), Emmett, a medical textbook editor (with a pet duck), lights a match to start a fire in the fireplace. Each chapter starts with a 'Good morning', and then minute observations on minutiae of life from an ordinary man. Nicholson Baker's prose is effortless and light. He's probably one of the most elegant prose stylists writing today, and he clearly has written a gem with this one. His comic sensibility is sneaky and fun, and I found myself laughing out loud in public places while thinking about passages from this book. The contemplation of details of life and the tangential fantasies that spring from mundane activities lead to subtle and touching refletions on life itself. This book is, above all, about what makes life worth baring. And the book's ultimate accomplishment is that it bares the beauty of life without resorting to building a dramatic resolution or an epiphany, but rather shows life as is, quietly and truthfully. One of the most pleasurable reads of this past few years.
Rating:
Summary: Plotless
Review: This book is finely written and contains many endearing observations on marriage and family, and ends on a sweet note. Yet it is also quite dull and nearly plotless--the chapters could be pretty much thrown into the air and rearranged at random without any effect on the logical progression or cumulative emotional power of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: An Easy, Enjoyable Read
Review: This book is for fans of The Mezzanine or Room Temperature, a story about nothing and everything. A book with no real plot but plenty of story. While I agree with an earlier review that reading this book is like reading somebody's writing exercises, Nicholson Baker is one author who probably journals more entertaining stuff than most writers' published fiction. These stories are random and entertaining, with exquisite details and wordplay that makes the writer in you sigh in jealous resignation. I gave it four stars because it was a little uneven, and some stories were much better than others. Be assured however, that Nicholson Baker's creative gazebo always has a great band. I recommend a listen.
Rating:
Summary: A trip through your own mind...
Review: This creative piece of fiction by Nicholson Baker is really more than just that. Baker's main character, Emmett, runs a parallel, rural life not unlike the authors own. Baker throws all his own feelings about the tiny things around him and their vast impact on his life into his character's daily ritual. It all starts out with the flare of a match. "Good Morning, it's 4:45 a.m." If you think an ordinary man with an ordinary life has nothing to say at four o'clock in the morning, you couldn't be more off-base. While sitting in the dark and sipping hot coffee, Emmett explores everything from the nuisance of having a hole in his bedtime sock, to the perplexity of life "passing him by". The beauty of this book is that Baker takes these thoughts and pushes them one step further, bringing the eating habits of a pet duck or a root beer-stained brief case full circle. This kind of writing always bring validation to our normal lives. "I've just ridden my tricycle, gone to school, greased my bearings, gotten a job, gotten married, had children, and here I am." Each chapter starts out with Emmett's familiar greeting, a quick, usually comical, quibble of his morning run-down, and then a thoughtful stream of whatever is on the top of his mind. Whether he reminisces about his youth or contemplates the lives of chimney sweeps, he wraps each section up in a pointedly keen observation about the meaning of these things in life. While this book is categorized as a 'novel' I find it really hard to thing of in such a way. If it weren't for the fictional name of the character I would've just assumed this was a personal memoir. Also, besides the message that the everyday coming's and going's of our lives make up who we are, I felt this book didn't carry a very strong theme. I fully believe in Bakers underlying philosophy, but was hoping that there would be some kind of a story line to tie all these vignettes together (there were a couple of chapters where Emmett battles an illness that I thought would lead to something, but it never did). Even so, there's so much to enjoy in this book. Anyone who's raised a family, gotten married, or lived an 'ordinary' life would thoroughly enjoy reading this.
Rating:
Summary: I Want More
Review: This is a beautiful little story. Early every morning for 33 mornings a man, Emmett, gets up, makes a cup of coffee, lights a fire and thinks. As a reader, we get to participate in Emmett's simple, yet detailed, musings on his life. While doing so we develop a picture of a man with more clarity than most characters in modern fiction. This is a story well worth reading. Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to get past the fact that I spent [$$] on what is basically a short story. A small book with widely spaced lines of 178 pages--I didn't do a word count but I would have been much happier if I had read this as part of an anthology of other stories. I am a big fan of Nicholson Baker. I think he is one of the best writers of prose in America today. Therefore, I ultimately don't regret having purchased and read this story. But if I were not a fan of Baker, I might feel a little ripped off. It might be better to start with one of his other books like Nory or Double Fold.
Rating:
Summary: easy on the eyes
Review: This is a quick read, easily accessible on a couple bus ride commutes, and is structured almost as short interlocking stories that can be stopped and started without missing a beat. The price of entry might be steep for so short a tale, but the admission is worth it for the story of the ant farm alone. With a book this short, it is paramount to spin the reader in right away and Baker does just this. I do not care much for his aversion to holes in one's socks, and some of his observations seem slightly contrived, but on the whole, this an excellent field trip into the mind of a lively fictional character that could have easily lasted a few more boxes.
Rating:
Summary: There's No Such Thing as Trivia
Review: This should have been the most boring book in the history of writing. The plot: a man wakes each morning at 4:00, and we get a couple of pages of his thoughts while he is making a fire. The Things he talks about: his pet duck, needing to pee, the best way to shave, and how well belly-button lint burns. Yes, belly-button lint. This should have been either a really boring novel or a really irritating one, but it was neither. Nicholas Baker finds in this world of minutia a lot to live for and a lot to write about. A Box of Matches is at turns humorous, touching, and wise. It's quick and light and entertaining, and you come away with a little greater appreciation for the smallest things in life. It's a truly worthwhile and life-affirming read.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Going,Sometimes Humorous Book
Review: Through fire after fire,coffee making and waking up,you get segments of Emmetts life and details of things you do but never really think about.(This book may help you from now on to do so.)
There was nothing really exciting in this book but the details in it keep you wandering onto the next page wondering what he will analyze next.I myself enjoy books that I really do not have to concentrate on to be able to keep track of who is who and whats what,(like when Im chasing two kids around my livingroom with my eyes every 2 seconds)I can look back down and still know whats going on.This is a book like that.Good read.
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