Desire

Through repeated images of, and references to hunger, eating, and vomiting, the author explores the complex and consuming nature of human desire. At the start of the novel, Tiller describes Veej's perpetual appetite in detail. Instead of denying Veej food, Tiller admits that "at some point we're all extra hungry, aren't we, if not necessarily for grub" (5). This passage from Chapter 1 evolves into Tiller's commentary on his own insatiable, and inarticulable hunger. "Take me," he says, "I'm on the other side of feeling I was about to burst, having skipped out on this last semester to hit as many tables and stations and taps of life's grand buffet as I could, which I had no idea could be so available, so glorious and miserable, so heroic and lamentable at once" (5). Tiller extends his initial metaphor, summarizing his past year with an almost flippant, and dismissive tone...