Point of View

In terms of narrative point of view, the stories shift perspective frequently. Several, including the collection’s title story, are written from the first-person perspective of their central character. This stylistic choice places the reader more thoroughly and vividly into the subjectively explored experiences and emotions of those central characters. Several others are written from a third-person perspective, a stylistic choice that places the reader at something of a subjective distance from the experiences and emotions in the narrative. In a couple of instances, that third-person subjectivity shifts focus, moving back and forth between characters. A particularly notable example of this is Story 7, “Saint Junior,” in which focus moves back and forth between its two protagonists, Roman and Grace. Finally, Story 8 in the collection, “Dear John Wayne,” is unique for its shift in narrative point of view back and forth from the transcription of a...