The footnotes are actually important
I have always thought of a footnote as small, optional information that gives context to something in the text. Normally you are allowed to skip it, and I do most of the time. Nicholson Baker changed how I think about them. His footnotes in The Mezzanine sometimes go on for whole pages. I remember reading one line of actual story on top and finding the rest of the page taken up by a note about shoelace rates. Through The Mezzanine, Baker illustrates how the footnotes aren't just a unique way of formatting, even the structure of the book is making the same argument Howie is. One of the most memorable footnotes for me was the one about doorknobs. It starts as a comment about doorknobs and ends somewhere completely different, going into a memory about his father and his ties. What struck me is that I never noticed the transitions happening. Baker transitions you into each new story so smoothly that you only realize where you are once you come back into the regular text. Meanwhile the...