The Game of Thirty | Topics for Discussion & Projects

The Game of Thirty Key Questions

Kotzwinkle's claim that he emphasizes "action and feeling" in his novels is a key to his method of presentation. One might consider how much his work in the film industry has influenced him in this regard and identify the particularly "cinematic" elements in his work. His success with "chil-dren's literature" is an important indication of his vision of existence, and it has much to do with his use of nonrealistic elements. The place of the mystical and the fantastic in his work is an important part of his presentation of the world. His protagonists have generally been people who might be called "good natured zanies," men slightly out of step with prevailing modes of behavior but well-meaning, eccentrically intelligent, and singularly individual. Jimmy McShane is his first fullscale use of an action-hero, a step beyond David Caspian of The Exile, who was only operative in this mode in his fantasies...
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