Boomerang is strongly autobiographical, with male narration in a disjointed, flashback narrative style. It features small town Southern settings and eccentric characters leading lives of despair and hope. Hannah is a student of literature, well read as well as a good reader and critic. It is not surprising that there are strong presences of other writers in his craft. He learned flashback techniques from William Faulkner; ironic comedy from Flannery O'Connor; eccentricity from Eudora Welty; men without women from Ernest Hemingway; narration from Jack Kerouac. But Hannah's style and much of his subject matter are original, which justifies his critical reputation.