biblioklept

by  Linden           Nicholas Baker's The Mezzanine, in many ways, is a mixed bag to read. At some times, the endless digressions feel excruciating and stagnant. Yet, Baker also disperses many gems through the intricate footnotes. His indictment of air dryers, his love for perforations, and his bathroom experiences he maybe should have kept to himself could all make the list. For me, the most memorable digression was his long footnote on page 27 about doorknobs and neckties. I found that this section went beyond trivial observations and hinted at some more moving ideas.          Although it is one of the longest digressions in the novel, we are initially sucked in just by the mention of a holding a doorknob while pondering broken shoelaces: "I paused in my doorway, looking out at the office, with my hand resting on the concave metal doorknob,1..." (Baker 27). With just the mention of the word "doorknob", we warp into a 1.5...