Robbins divides his novel in 121 short sections which contain an assortment of jokes, puns, metaphors, and word play, designed to amuse the reader on each page. His ability as a humorist is widely acknowledged. The novel itself is picaresque, Sissy and the whooping cranes serving as the greatest exponents of the freedom of movement Robbins professes. At the end of the novel, Robbins presents a special bonus parable in which Confucius, Buddha, and Christ fail to find sweetness in a jar of vinegar, the emblem of life, but Pan and his fertile woman accomplice find sweetness — offering a final clear example of the failure of both eastern and western religion to bring mankind happiness.