Bullet in the Brain

I think that Anders is continually longing for the feeling he got that day in the baseball field, which is the exhileration he felt from the unexpected. This is his object petit a. From the brief memories of his life, we are able to piece a little bit about him together. He seemed to be continually restless. He became irritated with his first love and "exhausted with her predictability". It implies that his daughter, a "sullen" professor who is likely to crave stability and routine, is disgusted with the opposite way her father chooses to live his life. One pleasant memory that was recounted was one of surprise that a classmate of his had written a novel. It was unexpected, and he respected that.

Since Anders is continually chasing the unexpected, it seems like he is always doing the unexpected as well. We know that he was annoyed with the long line at the bank and the absent teller, but when the lady in front of him tried to include him in the normal complaining that most customers spit out, he used sarcasm to defend the teller. Also, how many people would laugh with a gun at their throat? It is the opposite reaction that one would expect. He is continually chasing the unnexpected, and when he doesn't receive it, he has to create it.