Birth and Rebirth

The idea of different sorts of birth and rebirth – literal and metaphorical, physical and psychological, artistic and prosaic – underpins virtually every narrative and thematic element in the book. They relate to the author’s own experiences and those of his parents, the latter including his mother’s failed attempts to rebirth herself through art and religion, and his father’s repeated attempts to give himself a professional “rebirth” through constantly moving to new jobs after his old job came to an end, or “died.”

More significantly, the book is defined by the author’s attempts to give himself birth (into a new life, a new way of being) and rebirth (when those attempts fail, are dismissed, or are cut short). He portrays himself as coming to the realization, when he is very young, that he is in some ways fundamentally different from those around him – or...