In technique, Save Me, Joe Louis resembles The Washington Square Ensemble and Waiting for the End of the World. All three novels are constructed in movements similar to those in an orchestral composition; all concentrate upon social misfits whose emotional wounds are vividly portrayed; and in all three, the author's intent is a realistic depiction of the dislocation inherent in modern urban life. Also, Laidlow and Rodney, two of this novel's minor characters appear as more important characters in Bell's earlier novel, Soldier's Joy (1989).