Baker’s Unique Take on Nostalgia
When reading The Mezzanine, it's hard not to experience nostalgia. Baker’s detailed descriptions of the most mundane aspects of 80s corporate life brings the reader into the past without hesitation. However, I think this is largely a product of the time in which we are reading this novel, and not the novel itself. When Baker wrote The Mezzanine in the late 80s, everything he described was current. The use of the word “xeroxed” as an adjective particularly exemplifies this notion, as in an 80s office, almost everything you read was copied with a Xerox, but it now serves as a reminder of a simpler time. The office etiquette is also an example of this nostalgia. With a world occupied by phones and email, it could seem strange to a reader that Baker focuses so heavily on the subtle interactions required to perform the job. One example of this is found when he interacts with Tina, citing that he could not leave until she finished her phone call, or he was released (Baker 32). This isn’t to say that in person connection isn’t present in an office now, but a description of an interaction might be replaced with the process of writing and editing an email. In 2060, this slow and methodical process might be nostalgic for people who transmit thoughts directly from one mind to another. So while the book certainly creates 80s nostalgia for me, I doubt it was written for this purpose.
In the novel, both Howie and Baker reflect on the past, yet whether or not their writing is driven by nostalgia is different for both speakers. Howie recalls in detail the slow decline of his family’s milk delivery service. The local deliverer was soon bought up by a corporate giant, stripped of its personality and branding, and eventually the service was cancelled as they became the last home in the neighborhood which took deliveries (Baker 44). Howie doesn’t recall this with a particular fondness for milk delivery, but instead seems to be interested in how the outdated practice of delivery continued far into the age of the milk carton (Baker 43). In fact, Howie specifically notes that “I am tempted away from history into all kinds of untrustworthy emotional details,” displaying that he is actively trying to steer his writing away from nostalgia, and into the objective facts of the era (Baker 44). On the other hand, the narrator (who contacts us via the footnotes) seems to me to be heavily experiencing nostalgia. While some of the footnotes are simply objects or events he finds interesting, one in particular seems to be heavily driven by nostalgia. In one lengthy footnote, he expresses his frustration that the office doorknobs are not truly knob shaped. This leads him to recall his father's behavior of always hanging his ties on the properly knob shaped doorknobs present in his home. He describes how his father gave him a tie, and they wore it to a dinner, feeling they had the best ties at the table (Baker 27). This passage is demonstrative of Baker’s tendency to let one thought lead to another, which in this case caused him to experience a nostalgic memory. Nostalgia is often not connected to the objects themselves, but rather the era of safety surrounding them, and the transition from doorknobs to a calming memory perfectly demonstrates this.
Ultimately, the novel expresses nostalgia in a variety of different ways and as a reader, it was difficult to not experience it myself. For me, part of the intrigue of the book was how well it transported me to the mid 80s, an era which I never experienced. What was a completely normal day for Howie interests me because of how carefree he seems. He lives his life with the ability to take in every detail, a luxury most cannot afford. By focusing on the smaller aspects of life, the novel manages to create the sense of simplicity so often associated with nostalgia. When writing the book, I can imagine that Baker was also experiencing nostalgia, as Howie specifically notes he must avoid it interfering with his writing. However in the footnotes, Baker is free to let his feelings onto the page, shown well through the tie story. The experience for every reader is different, but I’m curious if anyone else felt some 80s nostalgia while reading this book.
Nicholson Baker. The Mezzanine. Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1988.
