As in Little Big Man and the Russell Wren novels (Who Is Teddy Villanova? and Nowhere), Berger employs a first-person narrative style, but only in the earlier Crabb novel is the language as vigorously colloquial as it is here. Although Crabb's narrative description is not quite as vivid as in the earlier novel, his oral style is unmistakably clear and lively. Nevertheless, it should be noted that Berger's interest in describing the world of nature and the wilderness— never very strong—wanes in this novel.

The desert around Tombstone or the Plains setting of Sitting Bull's cabin are barely sketched, in contrast with Berger's interest in the social life of Western towns. Though Berger's writing has generally shown little vividness or strength in dealing with the life outside of towns and cities, there are some vivid natural scenes in Little BigMan, including the memorable final sequence...