The Presence of My Fair Lady in Baker's The Mezzanine
On page 82 of The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, our narrator, Howie, finds himself in the bathroom, whistling the first line sung by Eliza Doolittle in the song “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from the 1964 musical My Fair Lady : “All I want is a room somewhere.” Right after starting, however, Howie cuts himself off, out of the self consciousness caused by interrupting his coworker’s whistled rendition of “I’m a Yankey Doodle Dandy” and we do not hear any more of his song. This instance, however, is not the first time Howie brought reference to the musical throughout the duration of the novel, as seen on page 67 where he draws a personal connection to the production by calling the record: “one of [his family’s] oldest records.” This is to say, I would like to investigate the connections between his internal conflict throughout the story, fitting into the world as an adult (and feeling as if you don’t), and the threads of the plot of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” where Eliza Doolittl...