Well, it's an adventure story, and a Bildungsroman, of course, but there was also the intention to describe a culture that had been seen in rather narrow terms.
“At a certain R.P.M., there's only one way for blood to leave your body, and that's through your eyeballs. That means you're dead.”
“I love physical comedy. I love Oscar Wilde, I love Shakespeare comedies, I love improv.”