The Mezzanine is a 1988 novel by American novelist Nicholson Baker, an author who specializes in "stream of consciousness" style writing, as clearly demonstrated in this story.
The Mezzanine can be most basically summarized as what goes through an ordinary man's mind during his lunch break. However, Nicholson Baker takes the story to a far deeper level, inserting footnotes throughout the book detailing how events might have played out if the person followed one train of thought, or another, and etc. The story digresses quite often, going into layers of abstraction, making it much more than what it seems on the surface.
The novel received mainly positive critiques for its original format and complexity. Baker's trademark style is shown through The Mezzanine, taking everyday thought-to-thought digression to a radical level.
