Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
America in the AughtsImmediately after the attacks of 9/11—or, as Fountain likes to write it, "nina leven"—America experienced a kind of knee-jerk response of intense patriotism. People were su...
Narrator Point of View
Real talk: the narrative technique of our story is kind of weird. For the whole novel, we're inside Billy's head, hearing what he's thinking and feeling what he's feeling. Often, that means we're d...
Genre
War DramaOkay, so Billy Lynn is not a war drama the way, say, Band of Brothers is. This book doesn't focus on battle, or warfare strategies, or really even the hardships involved with deployment. W...
Tone
Most of our story consists of Billy Lynn being dissatisfied with everything. Texas Stadium is too shabby. The food there is terrible. The Lynn family is dysfunctional. Dad is a douchecanoe. The hal...
Writing Style
Phew, boy, Ben Fountain is not a stingy guy with words. It's like he drank a gallon of coffee, sat down with his favorite thesaurus, and then wrote this book without worrying about writing in anyth...
What's Up With the Title?
There are so many titles Ben Fountain could have come up with. He could have gone with humor: War Stinks, and So Do The Cowboys. Or he could have gone George Lucas-style: Billy Lynn: A Hero's Retur...
What's Up With the Ending?
Just when you think start to think that Fountain might be a closet optimist (yay, Faison and Billy got to kiss goodbye, they'll make it after all…), he ends the book on a totally ominous note:Bil...
Tough-o-Meter
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is like one of those all-you-can-eat buffets: it's got a lot of deliciousness to offer, but it can be pretty hard to digest. There are so many levels to this novel,...