- 80s nostalgia: The book's time period is on-trend, speaking into a time that many Generations X-ers and Millennials are looking to engage in. - Father-and-son trope: The main relationship that pulls the narrative through the entire book is the father-son relationship and invokes Tobias Wolff This Boy's Life and Richard Russo's "The Risk Pool". - Relevant topics: The book tackles many relevant and evergreen issues that readers face today, including divorce, PTSD, and alcoholism, but offers hope even in these grim realities. -