How do the various characters look for belonging in various groups and to what extent are those groups helpful or harmful to them?

I think all of the characters in this book are ultimately joined in their effort to find at least one person, and preferably a whole group of people, who share their beliefs and support them. These groups range from cults, to writer's groups, to artistic movements, to communes. I got the sense that all of the characters wanted desperately to connect, but often found themselves unable to because they were too in their head or too afraid of fully accepting what the group has to offer them. Than again, sometimes the groups, such as the Nazi party or the Jonestown cult, were not even positive things in themselves. Although these negative groups seemed to be the most successful in getting people to buy in.

I believe all of the characters were lost in some way. Each of them made bad life choices and found groups of people who were in the same boat. More often that not the boats sank. Everyone was looking for some higher meaning to life/some higher purpose, but found - either through awful group experiences or intense self-reflection - that there was no higher meaning ... just more living.