Point of View

All seven stories are universally conducted in the third-person perspective. Usually, this manifests itself in the limited form; that is, third-person limited in which experiences and thoughts are restricted to one character. In "Wunderkind," we are "in the head" of Frances as she suffers under the weight of expectation; in "A Domestic Dilemma" we are restricted to the thoughts and experiences of Martin Meadows the protagonist; in "Domestic Dilemma" actions and thoughts are restricted to John Ferris.

Some stories are third-person omniscient, in which the narrator knows all and sees all. In "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" the narrator is free to mine the thoughts of the townspeople and their perceptions of Miss Amelia. In "The Jockey" we are privy to the actions of both the trio of horse racing men and the jockey, Bitsy Barlow. In " A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud" we have...