Like Gray's Poor Things the novel takes the form of documentation written by the characters themselves in order to record their experiences for posterity: a Prologue and notes (which make up almost a third of the total text) by "the hero's mother", and the central portion of the book, which is a third person narrative written by its protagonist, Wat Dryhope.
Adapting its central conceit - that it represents a found manuscript by one John Tunnock, which Gray merely edits - from the author's earlier Poor Things, the writing presented as Tunnock's likewise recycles earlier material by Gray.
The introduction also hosts a critique of Glasgow City Council's treatment of its culture and heritage in the neglect of the local history museum, and a brief mention of Glasgow's time as the European Capital of Culture in 1990, which would be the subject of a more sustained satire in his novel Something Leather.
All Things Considered | Standard & Poor's | Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 | Poor Clares | Things to Come | The Pretty Things | Where the Wild Things Are | Rich Man, Poor Man | Wild Things | The Shape of Things | Poor Knights Islands | Little Sisters of the Poor | Linens 'n Things | Kids Say the Darndest Things | 10 Things I Hate About You | Things Fall Apart | The God of Small Things | Poor Richard's Almanack | Poor Cow | My Favorite Things | Henry Varnum Poor | First Things | Things the Grandchildren Should Know | Things That Make You Go Hmmm... | Things That Go Pump in the Night | Things Behind the Sun | Terrible Things | Rich Man, Poor Man (TV miniseries) | Rich Man, Poor Man Book II | Poor Folk |