Point of View

Point of view differs within each of the stories in this collection. In "Futures," "The Rest of It," and "Ladies and Gentlemen" the point of view is third person. These stories have a clear protagonist who is the narrator of the story, the author telling their story in a distant, third person voice with only glimpses at their thoughts and emotions. These stories keep the reader at arm's length. In the other stories of the collection, "Middleman," "When in Rome," "The Suicide Room," and "In the Basement" the point of view is first person. In "Middleman" and "The Suicide Room," the bulk of the story is told in the past tense, the narrator allowing the reader to know that the events in the story took place in their past. "When in Rome" contains an anecdote from the narrator's past, but most of the story takes place...