Preview of Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance Summary:

Powers's themes are intimately connected with the social concerns mentioned above. His obvious quest in this novel is to understand the structure of human existence. As in all his other writing, Powers is concerned with ideas and with their conjoining parts, their necessary connections. His conflicts cannot be stated in simple terms — man against nature, man against man, man against himself. These terms imply divisions; Powers quests after connections.

In two of his characters, the narrator and Peter Mays, Powers focuses on the theme of obsession, not only as a means toward the end of achieving broad cultural understanding but of unlocking as well the secrets of human existence. This book is about the whys, whats, and hows of the world as we perceive it. The quest is more intellectually demanding than many contemporary authors have dared impose upon their readers.