The reversal of time in the novel is a technique borrowed from and partially inspired by Kurt Vonnegut 's Slaughterhouse 5, which challenges the reader through several reversals besides the plot including backwards dialogue and explanations. Even so, all life in the novel transpires in reverse order as people don’t age but become younger, injuries heal, doctors injure, thieves donate, eating turns into regurgitating food and use of the bathroom is a twisted comedy of sorts. Tom de Haven juxtaposes the narrative method through the novel’s title, writing ““Time’s arrow…doesn’t fly from the bow to the target, but from the target to the bow — then from the bow to the quiver, from the quiver to the tree, from the tree to the acorn”
The reversal of time in the novel is a technique borrowed from and partially inspired by Kurt Vonnegut 's Slaughterhouse 5, which challenges the reader through several reversals besides the plot including backwards dialogue and explanations. Even so, all life in the novel transpires in reverse order as people don’t age but become younger, injuries heal, doctors injure, thieves donate, eating turns into regurgitating food and use of the bathroom is a twisted comedy of sorts. Tom de Haven juxtaposes the narrative method through the novel’s title, writing ““Time’s arrow…doesn’t fly from the bow to the target, but from the target to the bow — then from the bow to the quiver, from the quiver to the tree, from the tree to the acorn”