Tropic of Capricorn has two narrative modes. The long opening section that desscribes Miller's experiences with the Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company is written with a kind of heightened realism, combining vivid description of the woeful "messengers" Miller hired with Miller's reactions to the disasters that afflict their lives. This part is a highenergy construct in which Miller's mixture of anger and amusement is presented in a relentless series of anecdotes and incidents that gather momentum through an increasing tension built with the datalogue of failure Miller is developing. The utilization of wrath — expressed in a narrative voice that pulses with almost uncontrollable irritation — to resist the circumstances of a world devoid of personal warmth or social support is one of Miller's favorite stylistic devices.

When Miller moves from the Cosmodemonic world (that is, the external realm of economic oppression and social scorn) to an escape into rampant...