What is the author's style in Janus by Ann Beattie?

Janus is narrated in the past tense, and the events of the story take place over several years. Andrea, the narrator, does not reveal everything to the reader, and it is with some surprise that the reader learns that the bowl was given to her by her former lover. This seemingly important detail is withheld from the reader until nearly the last page of the story. By holding this information until the end, Beattie forces the reader to rethink the significance of the bowl for the story and for the main character. At the end of the story, the reader is left wondering what has happened in the intervening years. It is implied that Andrea's world has continued to shrink, until the bowl itself becomes her world, "cut in half, deep and smoothly empty."