Boomerang is an autobiographical novel, loosely structured around what might be notebook or diary headings such as "Thinking," "Delta is Thirty Miles West," or "Dogs." Like journal entries, Hannah's chapters freely range through his childhood, youth, college days, and adult life. As a literary work, it is only marginally fictional. Many of its characters are identifiable personalities (such as the movie star, Jack Nicholson; the film director, Robert Altman; or the rock singer, Jimmy Buffett) or Hannah's relatives and friends. Yelvertson, however, appears to be a fictional creation. Once when fishing on a hot July day, a seven-year-old boy reports a huge snake coiled on his fishing pole. Hannah picks up the .25 automatic pistol from his tackle box and blows away the snake's head.

When the boy asks if Hannah is with the army or the police, Hannah replies that he's "with the army of myself."

That episode...