This reminded me of Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why.
During the senior year at the private Irving School, students have to write the Tragedy Paper, "the Irving School's equivalent of a thesis project." That is one of the three items on Duncan's mind when he returns to school for his senior year. He also worries about what room the previous senior assigned him and what "treasure" they left for him.
Like Asher's 13 Reasons Why, in which Clay listens to Hannah's story on tapes, Duncan listens to Tim's CDs of what happened to him his last semester of his senior year. Laban keeps alluding to a tragedy throughout the CDs and Duncan's thoughts but readers do not find out what the tragedy is until the end. As Hannah's tapes help Clay change the way he is around girls, Tim's CDs help Duncan do the same with Daisy.
I do like Laban's allusion's to various Shakespeare plays and events, but without being familiar with those plays most readers will not understand the significance behind characters' names and events. I was just discussing Jane Smiley's Thousand Acres with a co-worker the other day, and I read this novel. Would that be a coincidence or fate?
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