In order to develop the relationship between Bramhall, the man assuming bearlike aspects, and Jam, the bear attaining human qualities, Kotzwinkle has structured the narrative course of the novel as a two-track progression, with the linear paths converging in the beginning and near the conclusion, and then diverging through the book. This plan enables him to maintain the motif of a psychic sharing between the characters, and establishes a degree of dramatic energy through the shifts (like the cross-cutting of a film) from one track to the other, often in alternating chapters. Within this framework, Kotzwinkle can concentrate on the mood of the twined protagonists separately which is necessary since he is working from within the mind of the characters much of the time and to make their thought-processes plausible, a particular verbal matrix has to be formed.

Bramhall is no problem since the transformation of a human...