Schmidt divides the novel into months of the year rather than traditional chapters. How do these divisions contribute to the novel’s setting in the late 1960s? How does the novel’s month-by-month structure contribute to the characters’ transformations? What are some other reasons why Schmidt divided the novel this way?

From whose point of view is the story told, and how does that affect the reader’s perception of characters and events?

What literary devices does Schmidt use to create Holling’s narrative voice?