Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Mezzanine


Years ago, in journalism school, I learned that “there are no boring stories - only boring reporters.”

I’m sure this phrase was intended to motivate us to be creative writers, even when we were writing about the new sewer plant or the renovation of city hall. It was supposed to make us not hate our jobs while we yearned for greater journalistic heights.

I just finished a book that reminds me of that expression: “The Mezzanine,” by Nicholson Baker. It’s a short novel about one man’s lunch hour, and his trip on an escalator from the ground floor of his office building to the mezzanine.

If there’s a book that better conveys the richness of our day-to-day lives, I’m not sure what it is. Baker writes about going to a drug store, buying a bag of popcorn, developing a dependence on earplugs. And in all of those themes he finds essential kernels of humanity, beautifully complex descriptions and interrelationships.

All around us, life is so rich. Lying in bed as I write this, I see innumerable layers of detail that my mind ordinarily glosses over. The softness of my blanket, for example -- its faintly detergent smell, its sandy beige floral design, its origins in the Moroccan market where I bought it 15 years ago. The smell of my coffee -- the distinct sharp aroma of these beans brought to me by a coworker from Colombia, so much richer than my standard supermarket brand. My purring cat, with her half-closed green eyes and dubious genetic origins -- the lucky result of a union between two street cats in Tampa, Fla., 13 years ago, and both feline parents probably now long dead.

“The Mezzanine” is an exercise in seeing all of this, and seeing the ways our minds process detail, diverging from the main narrative in side-trips of description and fantasy (expressed in the book by expository footnotes). Check it out. It’s a great read.

(Photo: Reflections on E. 28th Street, Jan. 2008)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That photo is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Great post!!

The five senses are treasures, aren't they? I think that's why the Dead long to reincarnate. They want to smell the detergent smell, feel the softness, listen to the purring, look around at incredible reflections on the side of a building, taste a hot cuppa coffee first thing in the a.m.

The Dead forget all about pain, as soon as they pass on, apparently. Oh well.

Anonymous said...

sounds like the perfect way to recover from this weekend's run: ice packs and a good book. thanks for the recommendation.

Anonymous said...

Great post. I suppose that I miss most of what life has to show me. I'm too busy being busy.

Anonymous said...

how many pages is this book?

Anonymous said...

Merle: Exactly! We all are!

Squirrel: About 130.

Anonymous said...

Really, this is why "happiness" isn't something we must seek, but, rather, something we must simply "see" - it's right here, right now, all around us.

Anonymous said...

I would like to check this book out.