Editions

Page /
100%
  1. Home
  2. Fiction Books
  3. A Box of Matches
A Box of Matches

  • Imprint: Vintage

  • ISBN: 9780099448389

  • Length: 192  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 13mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 139g

  • RRP: £9.99

A Box of Matches

A man gets up earlier and earlier each day, dresses in the dark, makes his coffee and lights the fire with a box of matches. Then he rummages through the thoughts that crowd his head and preoccupy him. Here is mid-life domesticated man, whose thoughts veer brilliantly from love and marriage, to firelighters and suicide, in the twinkling of an eye.

This is Baker at his best, humorous and observant, revealing the underlying truths about the ephemerality of life, the joy of small things, the darkness just the other side of everyday life - all human life in a box of matches.

  • Imprint: Vintage

  • ISBN: 9780099448389

  • Length: 192  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 13mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 139g

  • RRP: £9.99

Reviews

  • Extraordinary prose

    Sunday Times

  • As Kipling was to the secrets of the jungle, so is Baker to modern domesticity, equally ready with fascinating observation

    Daily Telegraph

  • There is a good deal more everyday wonder here than in a hundred original miscellanies

    Observer

  • This might be Baker's best yet - you're in for a treat

    Evening Standard

  • Like the small, agreeable sensations it so deftly evokes, this modestly scaled story is a pleasure that can add cheer to an entire day

    Spectator

More from this Author

About the Author

Nicholson Baker

Born in 1957 Nicholson Baker is the author of several acclaimed novels; A Box of Matches, Vox and The Fermata as well as essays, including the campaigning Double Fold for which the New York Times called him 'the Erin Brokovich of the library world'.

Nicholson Baker

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies to make our website work. If you click 'Accept All’ we will use cookies to understand how you use our services and to show you personalised advertising and other content. You can change your cookie settings by clicking 'Manage Cookies'. For more information please see our Cookie Policy

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.