Larry's Party has been likened to the early work of John Updike, both stylistically as well as thematically. Several reviewers have pointed out that Larry Weller could be the 1990s version of Updike's Rabbit Angstrom. Shields acknowledges an admiration for Updike in an interview early in her writing career, so this is not surprising, and they share an interest in portraying the ordinary, everyday lives of their characters. Additionally, the insightful third person, present-tense narration of most of Larry's story is reminiscent too of Updike. But long before even Updike, the figure of the Everyman—in this case, Larry— has been quite common in literature.