Structure

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America consists of nine essays that make up the vast majority of the content of the book as well as a prologue and epilogue. These essays are, in a way, interconnected, as some of the individuals who are mentioned within one essay often appear in others. However, these essays are not ordered in a fashion that portrays a consistent narrative. While all the essays are about the author’s life, the time periods in which they discuss are not ordered in chronological order.

Perspective

Since many of the book’s essays are about Kiese Laymon’s life, much of the essays are told through his perspective. There are instances in which this is not so, but they usually involve hypothetical scenarios in which Laymon could not have been preset (like the debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama in...