Country United States Media type Print Originally published 1991 Publisher Random House Publication date 1991 Role Book by Nicholson Baker ISBN 0394589947 | Genre Biography Name U I: Preceded by Room Temperature Language English Pages 179 pp OCLC 22862177 | |
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Similar B & Me: A True Story of Literary, Room Temperature, The Mezzanine, The Fermata, Double Fold | ||
U and I: A True Story is a non-fiction book by Nicholson Baker that was published in 1991. The book is a study of how a reader engages with an author's work: partly an appreciation of John Updike, and partly a kind of self-exploration. Rather than giving a traditional literary analysis, Baker begins the book by stating that he will read no more Updike than he already has up to that point. All of the Updike quotations used are presented as coming from memory alone, and many are inaccurate, with correct versions and Baker's (later) commentary on the inaccuracy given in brackets.
Critical reception
The book received generally positive reviews. Publishers Weekly said: "the book presents a telling portrait of a working writer and critic. This is not a primitive, adulatory dialogue with the oeuvre of a lofty father figure; rather, it is a quivering `imaginary friendship' with living literary kin." The New York Times called U and I a "highly original and intelligent meditation," concluding, "Nicholson Baker has exquisitely rendered a rich and sensitive portrait of one writer's search for artistic integrity."