Point of view
This story collection focuses on the uniqueness of point of view. For instance, the stories each highlight points of view, of course, but in the stories, each person's point of view seems to raise questions about empathy and whether they are only seeing their point of view at the expense of others. For instance, in "The Twenty-Seventh Man," one point of view rises above the other writers to the point of audience and applause. In Stalin's Soviet Union has reduced these men to silent prisoners and nameless numbers, but the point of view emerges victorious. Also, in the title story, a hysterically selfish man forgets what it might be like to be his wife. He plays the victim of her ongoing menstruation, as if she is doing it on purpose or enjoying or something.
Judaism and culture
The stories share Judaism as their common thread. The Jewish history is one shown to be deeply narrative and the stories are of people for whom religion and culture mean different things. The shared heritage makes the collection into a diverse portfolio showing the variation of what Judaism can mean to the innumerable people across the planet who share that culture and belief system. The religion is not immune from criticism, though; in the title story, the patriarchy of Judaism leads a rabbi to advise a sinful misdeed.
Life as narrative
The portraits are often humorous in the abstract, sublime sense. They are rich and deeply ironic, but most of all, the stories show people as narrative experiences. Instead of showing narrative as one part of a life, these stories show narrative as one and the same as living. The lives are real because they are stories, not the other way around. In a way, the stories point to Judaism as the historical culture of narrative, since their holy texts are lengthy stories about myriad people.
