It's a story about the confluence of desire.
-- Zach (chapter 1)

Importance: In the novel's opening chapter, Lola goes out to dinner with her former colleagues, Clive, Zach, and Vadis. As soon as Lola announces that she is going out to buy a pack of cigarettes, Zach and Vadis start talking about an article they recently read. Zach makes the above assertion about the piece, a pronouncement which acts as the thesis statement for Lola's first person account. Indeed, like the story Zach is mentioning, Lola's story is one about desire, and the ways in which one's conflicting versions of desire complicate her understanding of self. Throughout the novel, Lola will encounter innumerable specters from her past. These confrontations symbolize the confluence of desire Zach refers to in this line. Experiencing this convergence forces Lola into confrontation with her past and with herself.

What I loved most about you was your decisiveness.
-- Amos (chapter 1)

Importance: Throughout Lola's...