The successful TV show 'Seinfeld' is commonly called 'the show about nothing.' They would use the most banal, everyday things, to make hilarious plots around them. From dealing with tough servers to trying to find a parking space, they have taken the most mundane things in life, and elevated them, made them important; much like Nicholson Baker does in his novel, The Mezzanine.
Baker (or Howie) covers such simple topics as doorknobs (or the lack thereof), and still manages to make them interesting. He shows us the personal connections that Howie makes with all these otherwise bland objects and ideas, which flavors them and makes them interesting to the reader. The best example of this is the footnote that begins by discussing doorknobs, and ends with his (touching) excitement over the fact that a tie that he had given to his father 'fit right in!' with the rest of his father's ties. Not only does this footnote show the reader how much Howie cares about his dad's approval, it also allows the reader to connect with Howie on a deeper level, on the basis that everyone wants approval from their own authority figure(s). These deeper connections happen all throughout the book (and the footnotes) and are one of the reasons that The Mezzanine is more than just a bunch of little ideas and anecdotes.
Baker is also able to put his finger on many of the truths which are usually found in pithy facebook statuses with lots of likes or on the front page of reddit. Most people usually have a hard time articulating these facts, but as soon as they see them they have mini epiphanies. One observation that Baker made, which I found to be particularly true, is "reaching a top step but thinking there is another step there, and stamping down on the landing...' He also states truths that are already universally known and acknowledged, but puts them in a different, more amusing light. This is perfectly demonstrated in the passage where he talks about going to the bathroom. "The problem for me, a familiar problem, was that in this relative silence Don Vanci would hear the exact moment I began to urinate. More important, the fact that I had not yet begun to urinate was known to him as well." For some, these observations - and thus Howie - may be seen as weird or abnormal, but I prefer to see him as someone who is just like everyone, he just states more plainly things that we can't or won't.
The final way in which Baker elevates the mundane is through his use of language. He uses colorful prose which not only captures the readers attention, but also opens their eyes to (even more) little truths. You probably never thought of it that way before, but after he calls the heads of staplers 'brontosaural,' you will never not be able to see them as such.
Like Seinfeld, Baker's The Mezzanine puts many nothings against a clean background, making them stand out. However, as one wise woman I met pointed out, with so many nothings, it is truly a 'show about everything.' In the same way, The Mezzanine isn't about many nothings, it is a novel about everything.
I really agree with you on the Mezzanine being a "novel about everything." All the little things in life are just puzzle pieces to a bigger picture, and by illuminating one by one each of the puzzle pieces, baker sorta manages to create this crystal image of our world (or his world in the 80's). Also, really liked that staircase one, and the straw one about their new inability to not float, they're both things that like you've thought about a million times, be you only really realize you've though about them when you read Baker's commentary.
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