PositiveSouthern Review of BooksWhat is most curious is the way Popkey portrays the storyteller primarily as a stranger while simultaneously revealing her feelings. Our only way in is through inner monologue, filled with various fantasies and privately asserted opinions. While the ambiguous nature of the storyteller directs attention to the other narrators, her lack of presence yields confusion. In several entries other characters engage the storyteller, making it difficult to accept her presence in the story. We don’t know if we are in the play or part of the audience. The lengthy conversations are rich in detail and Popkey’s use of imagery is immaculate. Ultimately though, we are left misplaced ... Topics of Conversation is a high school reunion that reminisces ... Popkey’s novel is more of a conversation in an attempt at self-discovery, with an homage to David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and its first-hand storytelling style of the most scandalous and desirable confessions.
