The Mezzanine
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (June 2017) |
LC Class PS3552.A4325 M49 1990 | | |
Followed by | Room Temperature |
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The Mezzanine (1988) is the first novel by American writer Nicholson Baker. It narrates what goes through a man's mind during a modern lunch break.[1]
Concept
On the surface, the novel deals with a man's lunchtime trip up an escalator in the
Plot
The Mezzanine is essentially plotless, a stream-of-consciousness fiction that examines in detail the lunch-hour activities of young office worker Howie, whose simple lunch (popcorn, hot dog, cookie and milk) and purchase of a new pair of shoelaces are contrasted with his reading of a paperback edition of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. Baker's digressive novel, partly composed of extensive footnotes of up to several pages in length, follows Howie's contemplations of a variety of everyday phenomena, such as how paper milk cartons replaced glass milk bottles, the miracle of perforation, and the buoyant nature of plastic straws; and of everyday objects such as vending machines, paper towel dispensers, and popcorn poppers.[2]
Critical reception
The novel was praised for its originality and linguistic virtuosity. Critics cited Baker's trademark style of highly descriptive, focused prose, his "fierce attention to detail," and his delight in portraying discrete slices of time within the frame of mundane existence.
Notes
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
- ^ eNotes.com.
- ^ "Contributors: Laura Miller", The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
- ^ Wroe, Nicholas (2009-09-18). "A life in writing: Nicholson Baker (interview)". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
External links
- Plunket, Robert, "Howie and the Human Mind", New York Times Book Review, February 5, 1989. Review of The Mezzanine.
Further reading
- Chambers, Ross, '"Meditation and the Escalator Principle – on Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine", Modern Fiction Studies, 40, 4, Winter 1994, pp. 765–806.