Identity

By employing a first person point of view and fragmented narrative structure the author stylistically inhabits Alexandra's search for her true self. At the start of the novel, Alexandra defines who she is by her work, her life in San Francisco, and her relationships with her partner and family. On the second page of Part I, Alexandra says: "This is the place and time in which the most average person is average in their own special way, or learns to believe it. The ordinary can be powerful" (4). These lines address Alexandra's feelings about where she lives and works, and how she understands herself based on these everyday circumstances. The passage also addresses Alexandra's attempt to understand how she, an average individual, might find validation and strength in recording the ordinary aspects of her existence. Though she feels frustrated that no one at work seems to value...