# Robert P. Baird

> Novelist, journalist, and editor. Author of The Nimbus (Henry Holt, 2025).

Robert P. Baird is a novelist, journalist, and editor. He published his debut novel, The Nimbus, in June 2025 with Henry Holt and Company. The New Yorker named it one of the "Best Books of the Year So Far" and The Washington Post put it on its list of notable fiction for 2025.

In past lives, he worked as an editor at The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Paris Review, Chicago Review, and Esquire. More recently he has done part-time editorial work for publications such as The Guardian Long Read and Foreign Affairs.

He grew up in Chico, California, studied mechanical engineering and human biology at Stanford, and completed a master's degree and a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago Divinity School (dissertation on Dante). He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, children, and dog.

Social: Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/robertpbaird.com), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/robertpbaird/)

## The Nimbus (Henry Holt, June 2025)

ISBN: 9781250392657

On an otherwise ordinary fall day on a university campus in Chicago, the toddler son of an ambitious divinity-school professor mysteriously starts to glow. The nimbus, as the strange, soft light comes to be known, offers no clues to its origin and quickly upends the lives of all those who encounter it.

The Nimbus is an exuberant tragicomedy about marriage, religion, academia, and parenthood. Publishers Weekly calls it "a caustic send-up of the campus novel." Booklist finds it "intriguing, entertaining, and often searing." And the Chicago Review of Books says it's "a hilarious and powerful portrait of faith…both big hearted and boundless in its spiritual examination."

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

### Honors

- Named a New Yorker "Best Book of 2025"
- Named one of The Washington Post's "50 Notable Works of Fiction from 2025"

### Where to Buy

- Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/107258/9781250392657
- Tertulia: https://tertulia.com/book/the-nimbus-robert-p-baird/9781250392657
- Amazon: https://amzn.to/4evhVZr
- Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-nimbus-robert-p-baird/1146167552
- Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Nimbus/Robert-P-Baird/9781250392657

## Praise for The Nimbus

### Press

"In this wry début novel, which reflects on modern parenting and campus politics, a community is upended when a two-year-old boy begins to glow…. Baird's quasi-satirical story emphasizes the tussle between high-mindedness and baser instincts." — The New Yorker (The Best Books of 2025)

"Baird's debut novel, which is at once a realist (and satirical) campus novel and speculative science fiction, depending on how one looks at it. The novel alternates between the eyes of different characters trying to make sense of the boy's glow, including his father, a divinity professor." — The Washington Post (50 Notable Works of Fiction from 2025)

"A novel about intellectual passion, the professional ambition that cannibalizes it, and the chaotic space in which explaining the world, justifying your own existence, and making a living all collide…. Entirely true to life." — The Christian Century

"Compelling…elegant and precise…'The Nimbus' arrives at a moment when American culture is grappling with questions of truth, authority and meaning. What makes Baird's contribution so valuable is his refusal to choose sides in the battles between reason and faith, skepticism and belief.… A beautiful argument for the necessity of mystery." — America

"Baird elicits the consideration of a range of ideas not just about religion and belief, but also about institutional disillusionment, the fragility of intimate relationships, and the human desire to construct meaning in the face of the inexplicable. To focus on the novel's exploration of weighty topics, though, belies how fun and funny 'The Nimbus' can be." — Marisa Wright, Chicago Review of Books

"'The Nimbus' is a hilarious and powerful portrait of faith (or perhaps more accurately the crisis of faith) in a secular and lost age…. Both big hearted and boundless in its spiritual examination." — Chicago Review of Books (12 Must-Read Books of June 2025)

"[An] engaging exploration of power and powerlessness, religion and faith, belief and disbelief, the seen and unseen…. Baird's tragicomedy entertains while also prompting reflection on the mysterious aspects of faith and belief." — Library Journal

"Baird's debut carefully considers the role of faith in a world largely devoid of it…. Intriguing, entertaining, and often searing in its critiques of academia, this is also a fascinating portrait of a family pulled apart by ambition and unexpected events." — Booklist

"A caustic send-up of the campus novel…. Baird's satire takes no prisoners.… This packs a stinging punch." — Publishers Weekly

### Author Endorsements

"Baird is brilliant, and so is his remarkable novel about faith, family, and the life of the mind. Read this wonderful book. You'll be glad to own it." — Annie Dillard, author of For The Time Being

"I think that there are miracles in the world, but realistic novels don't usually tackle them. Baird's intelligence, compassion and humor illuminate this astonishingly original debut, which somehow manages to ask hard questions about how to live while also being enormously fun to read." — Nell Freudenberger, author of The Limits

"A big-hearted novel about the biggest questions—marriage, religion, parenthood, meaning. 'The Nimbus' is comic and profound, a novel that practically glows. Robert P. Baird is a huge talent." — Elliot Ackerman, author of Halcyon

"I can't remember the last time I enjoyed getting lost in the pages of a novel this much. Set in an academic milieu that is captured with delicious precision, and populated with intricately drawn characters as intelligent and compelling as they are believable, 'The Nimbus' is as humane and psychologically astute as it is entertaining—the kind of novel that reminds you why you read fiction in the first place." — Adelle Waldman, author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

"Robert P. Baird has written a novel of remarkable breadth, one that ponders both the big mysteries (God, miracles) and the small ones (petty graduate school advisers). 'The Nimbus' is a revelation, a book that explores our deep longing for something extraordinary in an otherwise ordinary world." — Nathan Hill, author of Wellness

## Writing

### Features

- "The Crisis Whisperer." A profile of the economic historian Adam Tooze. The Guardian Long Read, January 15, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/15/the-crisis-whisperer-how-adam-tooze-makes-sense-of-our-bewildering-age
- "Emerald Sea." The making and unmaking of a half-billion-dollar treasure hunt. Harper's Magazine, April 2016. https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/emerald-sea/
- "The Hotshots of Helltown." The story of four friends who stayed to fight a deadly wildfire. GQ, May 2019. https://www.gq.com/story/hotshots-of-helltown
- "Putin, Trump, Ukraine: How Timothy Snyder Became the Leading Interpreter of Our Dark Times." A profile of the historian Timothy Snyder. The Guardian Long Read, March 30, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/30/how-timothy-snyder-became-the-leading-interpreter-of-our-dark-times-putin-trump-ukraine
- "Total Life." A profile of the poet Kevin Young. Esquire, Dec./Jan. 2017/18. http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a13135556/kevin-young-poetry/
- "On the Media Ambitions of Laurene Powell Jobs and the Emerson Collective." Reporting on the media investments of Laurene Powell Jobs and the Emerson Collective. CJR, January 21, 2021. https://www.cjr.org/special_report/emerson-collective-media.php
- "'The Left Edge of the Possible': On The American Prospect." A profile of the political magazine The American Prospect. CJR, November 7, 2022. https://www.cjr.org/special_report/american-prospect.php
- "The ABCs of Jacobin." The unlikely success of a socialist print magazine. CJR, January 2, 2019. https://www.cjr.org/special_report/the-abcs-of-jacobin-socialist-magazine.php
- "The Hidden Torture Cells of Bolivia." Reporting on clandestine detention sites in Bolivia. Narrative, Spring 2011. https://robertpbaird.com/content/files/2024/09/Narrative-Hidden-Torture-Cells-of-Bolivia-2.pdf

### Essays

- "The Invention of Whiteness: The Long History of a Dangerous Idea." Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. The Guardian Long Read, April 20, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/20/the-invention-of-whiteness-long-history-dangerous-idea
- "Remembering Bill Knott." A memorial for the poet Bill Knott. The New Yorker, March 17, 2014.
- "Interdisciplinary Magic." On switching from engineering to writing. Literary Hub, June 15, 2025. https://lithub.com/interdisciplinary-magic-what-the-humanities-can-reveal-about-scientific-pursuits/
- "Spend It All." A short, vigorous defense of poetry. Best American Poetry, January 13, 2012. http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2012/01/spend-it-all-by-robert-p-baird.html
- "Michael Friedman's Unwritten Columns." A memorial for the musical-theater writer Michael Friedman. The Paris Review, September 13, 2017. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/09/13/michael-friedman-unwritten-columns/
- "In Memoriam: Jenny Diski." A memorial for the writer Jenny Diski. The Paris Review, April 29, 2016. http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/04/29/jenny-diski-1947-2016/
- "Kirill Medvedev's Personable Provocations." On the Russian poet and activist Kirill Medvedev. The New Yorker, September 30, 2013. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/kirill-medvedevs-personable-provocations
- "Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale Remember New York's Country-Music Boomlet." On Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, and the New York country scene. The New Yorker, March 1, 2013. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/buddy-and-jim-take-manhattan
- "Dante, Near and Far." On reading Dante. Best American Poetry, January 9, 2012. http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2012/01/dante-near-and-far.html
- "On Negative Reviewing." On the ethics and practice of negative book criticism. Mayday, April 1, 2009. https://maydaymagazine.com/robert-bairds-response-to-some-darker-bouquets/
- "A Lume Spento." On Ezra Pound and Dante. Digital Emunction, November 18, 2009. https://robertpbaird.com/content/files/2024/09/DE-A-Lume-Spento.pdf
- "The Mines at Potosí, Bolivia." Reporting from the silver mines of Potosí, Bolivia. Narrative, March 16, 2009. https://robertpbaird.com/content/files/2024/09/Narrative-Mines-at-Potos-.pdf
- "Why Doesn't Anyone Read Dante's 'Paradiso'?" On Dante's neglected final canticle. Slate, December 24, 2007. http://www.slate.com/id/2178371/

### Reviews

- "God of the Gaps." A review of 'Believe', by Ross Douthat. New York Review of Books, December 25, 2025. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/01/15/god-of-the-gaps-believe-ross-douthat/
- "Showers of Hats." A review of 'Lincoln in the Bardo', by George Saunders. London Review of Books, March 30, 2017. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n07/robert-baird/showers-of-hats
- A review of 'Sorrowful Mysteries', by Stephen Harrigan. The New York Times, April 17, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/books/review/stephen-harrigan-sorrowful-mysteries-the-shepherd-children-of-fatima-and-the-fate-of-the-twentieth-century.html
- A review of 'Dickinson's Nerves, Frost's Woods', by William Logan. The New York Times, August 31, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/31/books/review/dickinsons-nerves-frosts-woods-william-logan.html
- A review of 'Hystopia', by David Means. London Review of Books, August 11, 2016. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n16/robert-baird/several-doses-of-wendy
- A review of Denise Levertov's collected work. London Review of Books, September 25, 2014. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n18/robert-baird/exotic-bird-from-ilford
- A review of Robert Duncan's collected work. London Review of Books, October 24, 2013. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n20/robert-baird/use-use-use
- A review of 'Long, Last, Happy', by Barry Hannah. NY Observer, December 8, 2010. http://observer.com/2010/12/smell-this-diction-barry-hannahs-stories-return-with-a-vengeance/
- A review of 'Revolution', by Deb Olin Unferth. NY Observer, February 9, 2011. http://observer.com/2011/02/book-review-deb-olin-unferths-revolution-is-a-bildungsroman-for-the-believer-set/
- A review of 'Early Autumn', by Geoffrey O'Brien. Bookforum, November 5, 2010. https://www.bookforum.com/culture/_early-autumn_-by-geoffrey-o-brien-6627
- A review of 'Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy', by Keith Waldrop. Bookforum, December 18, 2009. https://www.bookforum.com/culture/_transcendental-studies-a-trilogy_-by-keith-waldrop-4860
- A review of 'Mentors, Muses, and Monsters', edited by Elizabeth Benedict. Bookforum, November 9, 2009. https://www.bookforum.com/culture/_mentors-muses-monsters-30-writers-on-the-people-who-changed-their-lives_-edited-by-elizabeth-benedict-4665
- A review of 'Terra Lucida', by Joseph Donahue. Bookforum, Feb/Mar 2009. https://www.bookforum.com/print/1505/_terra-lucida_-by-joseph-donahue-3265

### Politics

- "Inside the Democrats' Battle to Build Back Better." How House progressives tried to save Joe Biden's landmark legislation. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/inside-the-democrats-battle-to-build-back-better
- "The Prosecution of President Donald Trump." How the House Democrats, in the face of certain defeat, decided to impeach the president anyway. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-prosecution-of-president-donald-trump
- "The Art of the Democratic Deal." Reporting on congressional negotiations. The New Yorker, December 20, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-art-of-the-democratic-deal
- "'I've Never Seen Evidence So Clear': Inside the House Effort to Draft Articles of Impeachment." Reporting on the first Trump impeachment. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/ive-never-seen-evidence-so-clear-inside-the-house-effort-to-draft-articles-of-impeachment
- "The Public Stage of the House Impeachment Inquiry." Reporting on the first Trump impeachment hearings. The New Yorker, November 18, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-public-stage-of-the-house-impeachment-inquiry
- "The Circus Comes to the House Impeachment Inquiry." Reporting on the first Trump impeachment. The New Yorker, October 29, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-circus-comes-to-the-house-impeachment-inquiry
- "Qaddafi's Dream." On the mosque Muammar Qaddafi built in Uganda. Boston Review, May 1, 2011. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/robert-baird-qaddafi-mosque/
- "Uganda Walks to Work." Reporting on political protests in Uganda. n+1, May 9, 2011. https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/uganda-walks-to-work/

### Covid-19

- "What Went Wrong with Coronavirus Testing in the U.S." An early report on Covid testing shortfalls in the United States. The New Yorker, March 16, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-went-wrong-with-coronavirus-testing-in-the-us
- "Can Trump Really Speed Approval of Covid Treatments?" Reporting on regulatory policy during the pandemic. The New York Times, October 10, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/10/health/covid-vaccine-treatment-fda-emergency.html
- "How Utah's Tech Industry Tried to Disrupt Coronavirus Testing." Reporting on a private-sector testing initiative. The New Yorker, June 13, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-utahs-tech-industry-tried-to-disrupt-coronavirus-testing
- "April 15, 2020: A Coronavirus Chronicle." A chronicle of a single day at the pandemic's epicenter in New York City. The New Yorker, April 27, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/04/twenty-four-hours-at-the-epicenter-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic
- "How Doctors on the Front Lines Are Confronting the Uncertainties of COVID-19." Reporting on medical practice during the early pandemic. The New Yorker, April 5, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/how-doctors-on-the-front-lines-are-confronting-the-uncertainties-of-covid-19
- "America's Lag In Expansion Of Coronavirus Testing." Radio interview on Covid testing. NPR All Things Considered, March 21, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/03/21/819629042/americas-lag-in-expansion-of-coronavirus-testing
- "Why Widespread Coronavirus Testing Isn't Coming Anytime Soon." Reporting on testing capacity. The New Yorker, March 24, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-widespread-coronavirus-testing-isnt-coming-anytime-soon
- "What It Means to Contain and Mitigate the Coronavirus." Explaining pandemic response strategy. The New Yorker, March 11, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-it-means-to-contain-and-mitigate-the-coronavirus

### Audio

- "Nancy's Bookshelf." An interview about 'The Nimbus' with Nancy Wiegman. North State Public Radio, June 18, 2025. https://www.mynspr.org/show/nancys-bookshelf/2025-06-18/nancys-bookshelf-chico-high-graduate-debuts-novel-the-nimbus
- "White Mischief." Interview for Ekow Eshun's three-part audio documentary on whiteness. BBC Radio 4, October 4, 2021. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00106by
- "The Invention of Whiteness." Updated podcast edition of the Guardian essay. The Guardian Long Read, September 18, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2024/sep/18/from-the-archive-the-invention-of-whiteness-the-long-history-of-a-dangerous-idea-podcast
- "The Idea of Whiteness." Interview on whiteness and race. This is Hell!, May 3, 2021. https://www.thisishell.com/episodes/1331
- "Is TestUtah Getting the Right Results?" Interview on Utah's Covid testing program. RadioWest, June 26, 2020. https://radiowest.kuer.org/local-news/2020-06-26/is-testutah-getting-the-right-results
- "A City at the Peak of Crisis." Interview about New York during the pandemic. The New Yorker Radio Hour, April 24, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/a-city-at-the-peak-of-crisis
- "Where Are All the Tests?" Interview on Covid testing shortfalls. Slate What Next: TBD, March 27, 2020. https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next-tbd/2020/03/where-are-coronavirus-tests

### Poems

- "The Labyrinth." A poem. Poetry, July/August 2010. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/53609/the-labyrinth-56d2330cad7c8
- "Blackfish Creek." A poem. Best American Poetry, January 31, 2012. http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2012/01/blackfish-creek-by-robert-baird.html
- "Carrara." A poem. The Cultural Society, October 28, 2009.

### Translations

- The Spiritual Guide, by Miguel de Molinos. An unabridged English translation of a classic text of seventeenth-century Quietism. Part of the Classics of Western Spirituality series. Paulist Press, 2010. https://www.amazon.com/Miguel-Molinos-Spiritual-Classics-Spirituality/dp/0809146509/
- "My Empire Is in the Air," by Gianluigi Ricuperati. A translation from Italian. Chicago Review, Spring 2011. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23065795
- "Dostoyevsky's House," by Jorge Edwards. A translation from Spanish. Chicago Review, Winter 2010. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25742580
- "Bolaño Inc.," by Horacio Castellanos Moya. A translation from Spanish. Guernica, November 1, 2009. https://www.guernicamag.com/bolano_inc/
- "In Like Flynn," by Wu Ming. A translation from Italian. Chicago Review, Autumn 2006. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25742372
- "The Emperor's Three Hundred Woodcutters," by Wu Ming. A translation from Italian. Chicago Review, Autumn 2006. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25742373

### Et Cetera

- "Ten Questions." Answering Poets & Writers' Ten Questions about the composition of 'The Nimbus'. Poets & Writers, June 10, 2025. https://www.pw.org/content/ten_questions_for_robert_p_baird
- "The Art of Commerce." An interview about publishing and writing. Art of Commerce. https://www.0s-1s.com/the-art-of-commerce-xliv
- "Over a windcloaked nightsoaked starpoked sea." A 2015 musical composition by Adam Silverman based on the poem "The Labyrinth." https://soundcloud.com/adambsilverman/over-a-windcloaked-nightsoaked-starpoked-sea-1
- "Poetry Magazines & Women Poets." A critical piece on poetry publishing and gender. Chicago Review, Autumn 2007. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40785539

## Rack & Manger

Robert P. Baird writes an occasional blog and even more occasional newsletter called Rack & Manger.

Read it online: https://robertpbaird.com/rm/
RSS feed: https://robertpbaird.com/feed.xml