The Fermata (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: fermata chord, tape gun, rocker switch, Miss Dobzhansky, Professor Sparkling, Van Dilden (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Fermata is the most risky of Nicholson Baker's emotional histories. His narrator, Arno Strine, is a 35-year-old office temp who is writing his autobiography. "It's harder than I thought!" he admits. His "Fold-powers" are easier; he can stop the world and use it as his own pleasure ground. Arno uses this gift not for evil or material gain (he would feel guilty about stealing), though he does undress a good number of women and momentarily place them in compromising positions--always, in his view, with respect and love. Anyone who can stop time and refer in self-delight to his "chronanisms" can't be all bad! Like Baker's other books, The Fermata gains little from synopsis. The pleasure is literally in the text. What's memorable is less the sex and the sex toys (including the "Monasticon," in the shape of a monk holding a vibrating manuscript) than Arno's wistful recollections of intimacy: the noise, for instance, of his ex-girlfriend's nail clipper, "which I listened to in bed as some listen to real birdsong."

From Publishers Weekly

Baker's ingenious fifth novel, about a 35-year-old temp worker who stops time to act out elaborate sexual fantasies, was a PW bestseller.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (January 24, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679759336
• ISBN-13: 978-0679759331
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,357 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stop, pause, wait, March 12, 2004

By	Eric J. Lyman (Roma, Lazio Italy) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is probably my favorite book from Nicholson Baker, the modern master of minutiae. Mr. Baker has a gift for capturing the essence of habits, thoughts, reactions, and objects that are so small, so insignificant that most people don't ever notice them ... and yet when Mr. Baker puts them on the page, he gets it just right.

None of the half dozen of so books I've read from Mr. Baker sound like much when the plots are summarized, and that is certainly the case with The Fermata. The book's story line is based on the ability of the 35-year-old narrator Arno Strine to somehow stop time, and most of the pages are used up with explorations of how he decides what he can and can't do while time is stopped.

The unimpressive story line means that the value of the book depends almost entirely on Mr. Baker's ability to keep the prose engaging. Sometimes it doesn't work (as with his more recent effort Box of Matches) and sometimes it works well, as with The Fermata. As always, what holds it together when it works is Mr. Baker's memory for trivia, his intelligence, and his eye for detail: witness the title: "Fermata," the noun form of the word "stop" in Italian, is also a musical term that means holding a note longer than the time value -- a perfect name for a book with this kind of plot.

Ultimately, my criticism of The Fermata is one shared by all of Mr. Baker's books and all literature based on prose rather than memorable plots or characters. In my mind, they're like the old cliché about Chinese food, which tastes great but leaves you hungry a few hours later. In the case of this book, the prose keeps the pages turning, but when you're through, very little of it sticks with you.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise, boring book, April 19, 2005

By	Monkey Deathcar (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Well, you all know the basic premise by now: Arnold Strine can stop time, but instead of stealing loads of cash or exacting petty revenge of folks who've done him wrong (I'll admit it - that's what I'd do), Arnold likes to take women's clothes off and describe their nudity in exhaustive detail.

I read through a bunch of the reviews here, and it looks like the consensus is that "the Fermata" has a terrible premise but the prose is interesting. I'm actually the opposite: I think the premise is fantastic, but the story is boring.

What's brilliant about "the Fermata" is that every horny teenage boy has had this fantasy, but no other writer (to my knowledge) has been willing to dedicate 300 pages to this premise. Whenever I've seen characters halt time in TV, movies, etc. it's generally used for crime. I've always wondered why those characters don't go around taking people's clothes off, and what would happen if they did? Well, Nicholon Baker sure answered the latter question here.

The problem is that once you get over the outrageousnes of the premise, there isn't much to like here. Arnold Strine is an interesting character. He has an odd sense of morality that I found strangely endeering - not easy to do when you're basically talking about a rapist. The book is also well-written and descriptive - sometimes to a fault. There are only so many ways that a writer can describe a muff without losing my patience...

The bigger problem is that there's really no plot. None. This truly is 300 pages of Arnold stopping time, removing ladies' clothing, and then talking about it in exhaustive detail. Baker's verbal wordplay and overactive imagination get a few laughs, but ultimately "the Fermata" is a well-written but seriously overlong character sketch that wears out its welcome before the halfway point.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars kosher ( ), May 30, 2000

By	M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The best feature of Baker's writing is his rapier wit (not to mention his exquisite language). I died laughing during parts of this book. Baker is a terrific writer (and a daring one). This is the best time you'll ever have reading daring sexual material. I sought out all of Baker's books and it didn't surprise me that he has many witty and insightful critical essays as well. After this book and Vox, he's become one of my favorite all time writers.