Books and Stories

Throughout the book, the author portrays herself as having a strong relationship with various kinds of books and stories. Such relationships developed when she was a child with storybooks, and continued through her adulthood with (as examples) books on psychology and philosophy. Throughout the narrative, she displays this sense of connection with, and in some ways reliance on, books and stories by incorporating references and quotes from several.

Sex and Sexuality

Encounters with sex and sexuality are fundamental to several of the experiences the author describes in the book. She describes herself, for example, as being almost consumed with sexual desire for Amaia (whom she refers to as her "beloved") in ways that echo her desires for food and company. She also reveals that she was a sex worker, portraying her relationship with that form of sexuality as both a transaction and a means of...