Nicholson Baker - The Mezzanine: A Novel

Pros: Amusingly in-depth analyses of daily trivia are vastly entertaining.
Cons: Footnote-heavy text can be distracting; not much actually happens.

Thank goodness for internal monologues. I’d be horrified if even half of the stuff I ponder on a regular basis were publicly known – not because my brain marinates all day in a simmering broth of moral filth, but because the things that really interest ...

Pros: Inventive, intellectually satisfying read that has crunch
Cons: use of uncommon words may distract

This is going to be another of the t-pini•ns in which I put on my chameleon cap¹ and try to give readers a taste of what they can expect in whatever it is I’m yapping about. It doesn’t help that I just watched Dr. Strangelove for the first time. ....

Pros: Detailed and Highly Enjoyable
Cons: no real plot, exactly

Nicholas Baker's The Mezzanine is not really a story. There's no plot, or major action, or anything that should make it entertaining. But somehow, it manages to be vastly entertaining, if only because the reader gets caught up in the...

Pros: Ingenious, innovative fiction, written with exquisite style.
Cons: Weighed down by footnotes, although they do contribute to the style of the novel.

Many people look for many things in a book; a riveting story, flowing prose, insightful analysis. For me, a novel that makes you realise you're not actually mad is generally a good thing - and Nicholson Baker achieves this in The Mezzanine, ...

Pros: a short read with delightful observations
Cons: impatient readers may find recursive digressions tedious

Nicholson Baker may be most famous for his Monicagate book, "Vox," but anyone who stops there, or (horrors) only goes from there to his exploration of sexual fantasy, "The Fermata," may be grossed out and dismiss Mr. Baker as a...

Pros: Witty
Cons: Too frenetic at times

If so, this book is a quick must read. Planning to work for a big white collar company, or if you already do, then Nicholson Baker's "The Mezzanine" will lighten up the way you view your job.

It's non-traditional style of duplicate...