Inhisstartling,witty,andinexhaustiblyinventivefirstnovel--firstpublishedin1986andnowreissuedasaGrovePresspaperback--theauthorofVoxandTheFermatausesaone-storyescalatorrideastheoccasionforadazzlingreappraisalofeverydayobjectsandrituals.Fromthehumblemilkcartontotheactoftyingone’sshoes,TheMezzanineatoncedefamiliarizesthefamiliarworldandendowsitwithloopyandeuphoricpoetry.NicholsonBaker’saccountsoftheordinarybecomeextraordinarythroughhissharpstorytellingandhisunconventional,conversationalstyle.Atfirstglance,TheMezzanineappearstobeabookaboutnothing.Inreality,itisabrilliantcelebrationofthings,simultaneouslydemonstratingthevalueofreflectionandtheimportanceofeverydayhumanhumanexperiences.
