Machine Dreams develops the themes introduced in Black Tickets (1979) and reenforced in Fast Lanes (1987) and Shelter (1994): the disintegration of the family, the isolation of the individual, and the contemplative person's search for values and identity. As in Shelter, individual conflicts are seen in counterpoint with national conflicts. Other similarities include the poetic quality of Phillips's prose and her use of a variety of narrators and narrative techniques: the monologue, the reminiscence, and the retrospective recounting of events.