What is the author's tone in WASP by Steve Martin?

THe tone is absurdist. Absurdism in literature first developed at the beginning of the twentieth century, contrasting sharply with the realism that had dominated for much of the previous century in Europe and the United States, in which characters were presented as faithful representations of real persons living real lives. Absurdist literature, by contrast—as its apt label suggests—is playful and unrealistic. Absurdism's strange, pathetic, and ridiculous characters suffer both ominous and less painful twists of fate, feeling doleful when happenings are particularly alarming or bad, but on the whole cheerfully hoping for the best.