This book was part of an English class I took. I consider this book to really be two parts, running simultaneously. There is the surface story that is taking place and there are the deeper points and observations Percy makes throughout. While I didn't really enjoy the surface story, I loved the insights. To me, the insights were slightly sarcastic but not in an offensive way. Rather, my reactions were usually, "Huh. I never thought about that, but you know, it's true. How interesting." (I find even my own reactions funny since he specifically makes a point about how people find things "interesting.")