Structure

Calypso is a book of essays, and as such is divided into many chapters, each of which is a stand-alone essay. In total, there are 21 essays and the book has no introduction, prologue, afterword, author's note, or epilogue to unite them. Instead, they are joined by the book's common themes of middle-age and aging; family dynamics; death and mortality; navigating differences; and finding the beautiful in the broken. Each essay varies greatly in length; they range from four pages to 15 pages.

Because these essays can each also serve as a stand-alone piece (many have been previously published as such), each one has a complete internal structure with its own beginning, middle, and end. As a whole, the essays come together to bring the book an overall structure by roughly following a chronological timeline and all taking place within the same period of a few years in the...