Nicholson Baker Writing Style

The most obvious element of Baker's writing style is the use of footnotes, but since Howie describes in depth his own reasons for using them I will not describe why they are such an effective element of his style here. Baker also makes extensive use of the second person to put us into the stories Howie is telling and to help us relate to the observation Howie makes. Since the focus on the novel is on intense observation of the usually unobserved parts of daily life which make up our life the use of second person helps to make these observations part of our lives rather then just Howie's. Baker also very carefully uses italics and punctuation marks to make Howie's passion and interest for the subject at hand clear. If Howie's enthusiasm for daily minutiae was not clear then the meaning of the novel could quickly change to emphasize the pointlessness of modern materialism or it could simply become boring. However, Baker keeps it interesting and avoids making Howie's enthusiasm seem overblown through careful use of emphatic punctuation.