What are the motifs in The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore?

A recurring idea involves the characters who avoid life through drinking, drugs, or other distractions. Theo spends his adulthood avoiding life. His typical response to problems is to curl into a ball and worry. When he conquers his drug addiction, he has the opposite response to dealing with Sheriff Burton. Howard, the owner of H.P.'s Café has been sitting in the bar drinking for ten years after confronting a monster. He even abuses things like Nyquil and wants to have an old-fashioned laudanum habit to avoid the problems of life. Mavis thinks of her regulars at the bar that they are "keeping a laser focus on the green felt lest they get a glimpse of their lives,"