Structure

There are twenty-one essays, varying in length from one page to twenty-five pages. The length of the essays is directly proportional to the meaning Williams gives to each subject: Columbus, Cotton Mather, Pére Sebastian Rasles, Aaron Burr and Edgar Allen Poe are the longest and most meaningful subjects. Lincoln gets one page, Washington, four. The essays are chronological and build on each other in terms of metaphor and meaning. Format varies widely, from straight third-person essay style to impressionistic and stream-of-consciousness obscurities.

Perspective

Tone