What's the deal with Terry Davis's second book?

Question

The main character in "Mysterious Ways" does not fair so well in the end of the book. Any ideas on theme or where Davis was going with this?

Answer 1

The theme is basically how dangerous it can be to grow up. The character Karl suffers from the death of his family, the Vietnam War, and a mysterious illness. The book style is called a "Bildungsroman" which means a "novel of education" - it shows the spiritual, moral, and psychological development/ growth of the main character through to a point of maturity, in this case, over 6 months.