Among many varying descriptions of the work, Ashley once described Perfect Lives as a "comic opera about reincarnation". Ashley's biographer, Kyle Gann, meanwhile, has stated that it can be called a "performance novel", "if opera raises too many expectations". Perfect Lives has been described as consisting of "digressions about the US landscape and American lives, performed in American vernacular language". It audiovisually makes use of self-references, non-sequiturs, an eclectic, pop-based but minimalist approach to its musical structure (sculpted by "Blue" Gene Tyranny and Peter Gordon), and surreal and intertwined visual editing (often making use of overlays and captions), as well as subjects like "Midwestern ennui", social conflict and metaphysics. The seven episodes often refer to events that are either about to happen or have happened, in an order depending more on the actions of other main characters than linear time. In its libretto, interjections and declared propositions are highlighted in small italic type.
