This is the story of how Frank Caldwell, Chris DeMatteis, Mandy Blemm, and I became, in the city newspaper’s words, the 4 Unwitting Hostages.
-- Narrator (N/A)

Importance: This sentence establishes the idea that the narrative centers around a specific day in the narrator's past. However, the story often subverts this assertion by utilizing narrative digressions to cast a wider narrative and thematic reach.

Mrs. Roseman's Civics classroom...had portraits of all 34 U.S. presidents.
-- Narrator (N/A)

Importance: This detail about the setting stands as one of the first of many allusions to American history and culture in the story. These allusions assert a juxtaposition between the events of the story and thematic statements on American history and culture.

Ages seven to nearly ten were the troubling and upsetting period (particularly for my parents) when I could not, in any strictly accepted sense, read.
-- Narrator (N/A)

Importance: This statement points out one of multiple traits that distinguished the narrator as...