Barry Gifford, "Wild at Heart," "Hunger in America," and "Locus Ceruleus," from Wild at Heart


1. Gifford has said that in terms of art and art's ability to affect people, "film is where it's at." How do these excerpts from Wild at Heart reflect this opinion? Oppositely, how do they confirm that literature still has the ability to move people? Why is it important that Wild at Heart is first and foremost written, as opposed to produced and directed?

2. These excerpts contain a number of stories within the central story. Isolate these stories and the voice and form in which they are variously told. What is the purpose to all of this storytelling, and how does it inform the reader's overall sense of narrative?

3. The brevity of the chapters is a hallmark of Gifford's novels. Why not have longer chapters? How does the brevity of the various parts appear to affect the whole? What other impulses from the work help to determine this particular structure?