Slaves of Spiegel, as might be expected from the plot and characters, is not constructed like a typical novel. Its structure is chaotic and lacks smooth narration; it jumps back and forth among several different narrators. The very structure of the book, in which Pinkwater whimsically plays with the standard rules of storytelling, is intended to add to the unconventional delight of reading it. For instance, when he decides to briefly use an omniscient narrator to explain a part of the novel, he begins the chapter with: AN UNNAMED THIRD PERSON WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THIS STORY SPEAKS.

Pinkwater uses the device of shifting narrators, as well as the further dislocation of shifting back and forth to different periods of the story, to create a narrative structure that promises surprises at every turn—there is no telling what will happen next or who...