Structure

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is divided into fifteen chapters, plus a section called "Intermission" and a closing "Coda." The Intermission section appears two-thirds of the way through the book and divides the narrative in two distinct sections of unequal length. The first eleven chapters before the Intermission tell the story of Jeanette's childhood, teen years, and early adulthood. This section spans the years 1959-1985 roughly. While the overarching narrative of this section moves in chronological order, the chapters themselves and the various stories within them follow a non-linear structure. While the narrative keeps moving generally from childhood toward Jeanette's university days, the author jumps somewhat back and forth in time, introducing plot points from her later life early on and returning to them in an unpredictable pattern. This non-linear structure connects with Jeanette's personal feelings about the nature of time, which she elaborates...