The Anthologist was published by Simon & Schuster in 2009. Paul Chowder is a minor poet — published, respected in a small way, but not successful — who has been commissioned to edit an anthology called Only Rhyme. He cannot write the introduction. His girlfriend has left him because of his inability to finish. The novel is his procrastination: instead of writing the introduction, he talks to the reader about poetry.
And the talk is extraordinary. Chowder’s theories about meter (he believes the iambic pentameter line is actually a four-beat line with a silent beat at the end, like a musical rest), his passionate advocacy for rhyme (against the free-verse establishment that dominates American poetry), his thumbnail portraits of poets (Tennyson, Swinburne, Sara Teasdale, Louise Bogan, Theodore Roethke), and his account of how poems actually get written (badly, slowly, with much staring out windows) constitute one of the most engaging books about poetry ever published.
Baker performs a sleight of hand: a novel about failure and procrastination that is itself brilliant and productive — Chowder’s “inability to write” produces a book more engaging than the introduction he cannot finish.
Collecting The Anthologist
First edition (Simon & Schuster, New York, 2009): Hardcover with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $15–$35
- Very good/very good: $8–$20
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.
The Poet’s Block
The Anthologist (2009) follows Paul Chowder, a minor poet struggling to write the introduction to a poetry anthology while his girlfriend has left him. The novel is Baker’s love letter to poetry — Chowder’s digressions about rhyme, meter, iambic pentameter, and the careers of various poets constitute one of the most entertaining guides to poetic craft ever written. The comedy derives from the gap between Chowder’s passionate knowledge of poetry and his inability to apply that knowledge to his own paralyzed life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this really about poetry? Yes and no — Chowder’s lectures on meter and rhyme are genuinely illuminating, but the novel is equally about procrastination, failure, and the gap between what we know and what we can do. It is Baker’s most affectionate novel.