The Bookshelf Conversations #197: Kevin Baker

I may have said it before, but I should have some sort of gimmick for repeat guests, akin to Saturday Night Live‘s fancy smoking jackets for five-time hosts.

This marks my third Conversation with Kevin Baker (and there will be a fourth when his new book — the follow up to The New York Game — comes out next year.

But this time we’re going down memory lane, to his first book: Sometimes You See It Coming: A Novel. I rarely reread books; there’s just too many new things coming along. That policy goes double for novels since you already know how it comes out. But I thought it would be a nice departure and proof that just because a book is old doesn’t mean it’s not still interesting. And the fact that’s about the Mets — my team — doesn’t hurt.

One of the most compelling issues to me was the use of certain language that probably wouldn’t fly some thirty years after the original release. Baker has some fascinating observations in that regard.