Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead

 

Characters

Ray Carney Elizabeth – wife, works for travel agency John May   Mike Carney – Ray’s father, Pepper used to work with him   Carney’s Furniture Marie – secretary, abused by husband (Rodney) Salesmen – Larry and Rusty

1971

Munson – detective, took weekly payments from businesses, “the pad”, Carney got involved with him trying to get Jackson 5 tickets for May Buck Webb – partner   BLA – Black Liberation Army, robbed jewelry store Notch Walker (Robert Taylor) – gangster, helping BLA Malik Jamel - BLA leader   Knapp Commission – subpoenaed Webb   Munson planning to leave – forced Carney to go along with crimes and collections: 1.       Held-up private Memorial Day poker game 2.       Beat up pimp on sidewalk 3.       Robbed bottle club 4.       Robbed bodega 5.       Robbed Chink Montague’s numbers location

1973

Blaxploitation movie – films featuring black stereotypes   Secret Agent: Nefertiti Aaron Flood “Zippo” – photographer, artistic director Lucinda Cole – Nefertiti (real name Leanne Wilkes) Roscoe Pope – comedian Pepper – security   Chick Montague – investor in movie, Lucinda’s boyfriend, changed her name   Quincy Black – drug dealer Pickles – chef

1976

Alexander Oates – running for Boro president, supported by Elizabeth and May, involved in redevelopment schemes and murdered   Albert Ruiz – son of tenant, hurt in fire   Arsonists (1/3 of fires in Harlem were deliberate): Izzy Leon Drake

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Which characters did you like?  Were you able to relate to any of them?  Which would you have been friends with?

2.       What do you think motivated Carney to do something about the fire that hurt the Ruiz boy?

3.       Did you like the author’s writing style?  There were many characters and events.  How did you keep everything straight and determine what was important?   In the end, did everything fit together?

4.       Did you like the mix of fiction and real events?

5.       There were various, almost separate stories in the novel, for example the long section about the movie, Secret Agent: Nefertiti and the part about the two competing chicken restaurants, New Country Kitchen and Lady Betsy’s.  What was the point of including these in the novel aside from introducing Pepper as a thief who stole Lady Betsy’s secret ingredient.

6.       Did you like the descriptions of furniture?  When describing the fire at the furniture store, the author wrote, “The four recliners – real beauties, a solid representation of the kind of options out there, whether you were new to the market or looking to upgrade – ignited speedily” (page 289).  Did this add to the story?   Did it make you want to shop?

7.       The description of the book online said “Colson Whitehead’s portrait of Harlem is sure to stand as one of the all-time great evocations of a place and a time.”  Did the book meet this expectation for you?  Why or why not?  Did you learn anything new?

8.       The description also said the book “is a darkly funny tale of a city under siege, but also a sneakily searching portrait of the meaning of family.”  What different forms did “family” have in the novel?

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Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

 

Characters

Damon Fields “Demon Copperhead” Damon Woodhall – biological father “Copperhead” due to red hair Mother – Fields Stoner - stepfather   Nance Peggot “Mammaw” - neighbor Mr. Peggot “Mr. Peg” Seven children – Humvee, June (nurse, in Knoxville), Mariah (in jail) Grandchildren: Matt “Maggot” – Damon’s friend, Mariah’s son with Romeo, Mariah in jail Emmy – Humvee’s daughter, living with June   Hammer Kelly – Emmy’s ex-boyfriend   DSS caseworkers: Miss Barks – left to pursue teaching degree Baggy Eyes   Foster Home #1 Mr. Crickson – grew tobacco Boys: Tommy Waddell “Waddles” Swap-Out Sterling Ford “Fast Forward” – high school football star   Foster Home #2 Mr. and Mrs. McCobb Brayley, Hallie, and twin babies   Golly’s Market – worked there after school Landfill – Ghose “Ghost” – “Extra-Eye” from time with Stoner

Murder Valley, Tennessee: Betsy Woodall – grandmother, raised 11 foster girls Dick – younger brother, wheelchair Jane Ellen - #11   Kent – June’s boyfriend, drug representative, pushed Oxy Contin   Foster Home #3 Winfield – widower of one of Betsy’s girls, high school football coach, Lee High Generals Agnus “Angus” – daughter Mattie Kate – housekeeper Ryan Pyles “U-Haul” – assistant, didn’t like Demon Mr. Briggs – assistant and JV football coach   Rose Dartell – scar on lip caused by Fast Forward throwing a claw hammer at her   Mr. Armstrong – teacher and guidance counselor Ms. Annie – wife, art teacher Mr. Maldo – janitor   Dori - died after father died, drugs Mr. Vesper – father, ill   Courier newspaper: Tommy – janitor and designed ads Demon – comic strip “Red Neck”   Devils Bathtub: Fast Forward – fell and died Hammer – rifle pointed at Fast Forward, tried to help, drowned Maggot Big Bear – football teammate, yelled warning Demon

 

 

 

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Early on his mother told Damon that “her future was me” and that he “was one hundred percent of her reason for getting sober” (page 82).  She meant this as a compliment, but Damon only found it “one more thing to worry about” (page 82).  Did she put too much pressure on him?  Was this fair?

2.       There were many issues addressed in the book including addiction, foster care, and childhood trauma.  Were you able to understand the characters even if you have not experienced any of these things?

3.       What did you think about the incident at the Devil’s Bathtub where both Fast Forward and Hammer died.  Fast Forward was saying bad things about Emmy and Hammer pointed a rifle at him.  Big Bear came along and shouted a warning to Fast Forward at the top of the falls.  When he turned to look at Big Bear, he slipped, fell and drowned.  Hammer dove in to try to save him and also drowned.  Could this have been avoided?  How did it fit into the story?

4.       What did you think about Fast Forward.  He was adopted and then unadopted by the Dartell family after he scarred Rose with the claw hammer and tried to get her brother to jump off a chair with a noose around his neck connected to the ceiling.  (See pages 328 – 329.)  Could he have been redeemed at any point?

5.       We never read about Tommy being involved with drugs, but it was mentioned several times that he read a lot of books.  When he met him, Demon said he was “the type of make the best of things, mostly by reading library books and ignoring the fact of people hating him” (page 70).  Toward the end of the novel, Demon said “Tommy had squandered his youth on library books and had zero experience with cable TV” (page 417).   Do you think this was significant in his survival?

6.       The author lives in Virginia, which she identifies as “ground zero of the opioid epidemic” (page VI).  In a forward for a Barnes and Noble edition, she identified the book being about “generational anguish, limited choices, and suffocated hopes, poverty built into a region by historical design” (pages III and IV).    How did she address these issues throughout the story?   Did it make you think about these issues and give you any insight that you did not have before?

7.       The OxyContin epidemic was a main theme.  A doctor prescribed it to one of Damon’s mother’s co-workers who shared it with her and she became one of the first casualties (pages 112 – 113).  June’s boyfriend, Kent, was a drug rep and gave free gifts to doctors who prescribed the pills.  The company said they had studies that showed there was no addiction risk (page 243) and they developed the pain scale to encourage people to take the pills to eliminate pain.  Mr. Peg even received a coupon for some pills for free.  Mrs.  Peggot refused to let him get the pills.   If she recognized the danger, why didn’t more people?

8.       June said that Purdue “hand-picked targets like Lee County that were gold mines” (page 416) for their drug sales.  Demon told June “I don’t know a single person my age that’s not taking pills” (page 415).  Why did it take so long for people to understand what was happening and take action?

9.       Damon felt the low pay of the caseworkers was a reflection of the value society placed on kids like him.  Was he right?  How can we change that?

10.   At his one school the poor kids were singled out for special Christmas parties and called over the loud speaker to attend.   The organizers probably thought they were doing a very good thing, but the children were ashamed.  How could this have been done differently and better?

11.   When Damon was in fifth grade, Slam Books were popular where you wrote down your impressions of your classmates, both positive and negative.  Did you ever experience anything like that?  Do you think the teachers knew, and if so, why did they not stop it?  How does this compare to all the social media today?

12.   Who were the positive characters in the book?  Why do you think Demon survived and others did not?

13.   In chapter 62, Tommy called Demon and encouraged him to write his book about what had happened.  He said, “it’s a war. And it’s been going on the whole time, and nobody gets it, not even us” (page 522).  He felt it was all about money.  The people who lived off the land did not pay as much taxes, so therefore they did not count.  He compared Lee County to the Cherokees and Black people.   Did you understand his comparison?  Do you think he was right?

14.   Discuss your reading experience.   Did you enjoy the book?  What were your thoughts as you were reading?  Would you recommend it to a friend?  Why did it win the Pulitzer Prize?

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The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

 

Characters
Hampton College, Vermont	Other characters
John Richard Papen Henry Winter Charles and Camilla Macaulay - twins Frances Abernathy Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran   Julian Morrow – Greek professor   Dr. Roland – Richard worked for him at college   Marion – Bunny’s girlfriend   Judy Poovey   Cloke Rayburn – classmate, buys drugs Jack Teitelbaum – classmate   Epilogue: Richard – graduated from Hampton Henry – dead, suicide Francis – gay, marrying Priscilla to preserve inheritance Charles – ran off with married woman, living in Texas Camilla – not speaking with Charles, taking care of grandmother, turned down Richard’s marriage proposal because she still loved Henry Henry’s ghost – appeared to Richard	Harry Ray McRee – man killed by Francis, Henry, Charles, and Camilla while trying to have a bacchanal   Mack and Kathy Corcoran – Bunny’s parents Brothers   Agent Harvey Davenport – FBI   William Hundy – local businessman, spread false story   Priscilla – Francis’ fiancé at end of novel, “The Black Hole”

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1.       Discuss the various main characters and how they were portrayed. 

a.       Why was Henry so generous with Bunny?  For example, after the killing, he took Bunny to Italy over semester break.

b.       At the end, why did Henry commit suicide?

c.       Regarding Bunny, once he knew something, he could not quit talking about it.  Henry said of him, “The problem is he’s just a fool, and sooner or later he’s going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person” (page 177).

d.       Why was Bunny particularly cruel to Richard.  He “picked up with rapid and unflagging instinct the traces of everything in the world I was more insecure about, all the things I was in most agony to hide” (page 219).

e.       At the end of the novel, Charles entered the room with a gun and planned to kill Henry.  Charles said to Henry, “You ruined my life.” And Henry replied, “If anyone’s to blame for your problems, it’s you” (page 533).  Who was correct or are they both to blame?

f.        Richard was the narrator.  Did he have another part in the story besides this? 

2.       Money, or lack of it, played a large part in the novel.   Why did the author put so much emphasis on who had money and the reasons why some of the main characters did not?  

3.       What did you think about the incident when Bunny invited Richard to dinner, ran up a huge bill, and then lied and said he could not pay?

4.       Could the story have been the same without the major emphasis on drugs and drinking?  Why was that such a large part of the story?

5.       What did Bunny’s dad’s behavior and mourning add to the story?

6.       What did you think Julian’s back story was?

7.       Did you like the Epilogue and reading about what happened to everyone?  Was it a satisfying end?

8.       Discuss your reading experience.  Did your opinion and/or enjoyment of the novel change as you read further? 

9.       This novel was a Read with Jenna pick as well as Time Magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Book of all time.   What did you think about these honors?

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The Horse Whisperer, by Nicholas Evans

 

Characters
New York	Choteau
Grace Maclean Robert – father, lawyer Annie Graves – mother, magazine editor-in-chief Elsa – Jamaican nanny Pilgrim – horse   Judith – riding friend Gulliver – horse   Wayne P. Tanner – truck driver   Liz Hammond – Pilgrim’s usual vet Harry Logan – vet at scene of accident, continued to work with Pilgrim Dorothy Chen – Cornell University, worked with Pilgrim   Magazine: Crawford Gates – company president Don Farlow – lawyer Anthony – Annie’s assistant Lucy Friedman – style expert Fenimore Fiske – movie critic, let go	Tom Booker Rachel Feinerman – Tom’s wife, separated Hal – son Rimrock - horse   Frank – Tom’s twin, shared ranch, Double Divide Diane – wife Sons – Joe, Scott and Craig   Ellen – Tom and Frank’s mother Rosie – sister   Terri Carlson – physical therapist   Smokey “Smoke” – helped Tom with chores

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1.       Annie and Robert had completely different reactions to Grace’s accident and injuries.  Robert could not stop crying, but Annie did not cry at all.  She told him, “You’ve got to stop feeling sorry for her.  Pity won’t help her at all” (page 78).  Do you think a little pity would have hurt?

2.       Discuss the family dynamics in the Maclean family.   The author wrote, “Grace loved and resented her mother in almost equal measure and often for the same thing.  For her certainty, for example, and for the way she was always so damn right” (page 152). 

3.       On the other hand, Annie reflected that to her, “Action had become a substitute for feeling.  Or at least for the expression of it” (page 158).  Can you understand her point of view?

4.       Why do you think Annie was so determined to save Pilgrim?

5.       Another major influence on Annie and Robert’s relationship was their inability to have a second child.  Robert felt that when Annie accepted the editorship of the magazine, he thought that “she’d taken it either to distract or, again, to punish herself.  Perhaps both” (page 50).

6.       The book was published in 1995.  At one point Annie felt that Diane disapproved of how much she worked and seemed to think “that Annie was much too busy to bother herself with being a mother” (page 208).   Do you think this would be addressed the same now?

7.       What was it about Tom that Grace was willing to tell him about the accident when she would not talk about it with anyone else?

8.       How well did the author help you understand a subject that you might not be familiar with, such as amputation and the feelings of someone who has lost a body part or horse training and healing?

9.       Toward the end when Tom made Pilgrim lie down, he said to Annie, “Sometimes what seems like surrender isn’t surrender at all.  It’s about…seeing clearly the way life is and accepting it and being true to it, whatever the pain, because the pain of not being true to it is far, far greater” (page 373).  He was talking about their relationship.  Was this good advice or should they have denied their feelings?

10.   When Grace found out about Tom and Annie, she felt betrayed.   Did you understand her feelings?

11.   Did Tom deliberately let the wild stallion kill him?  Why?

12.   Did you like the ending, chapter 26?  What do you think happened between Annie and Robert? 

13.   Discuss your reading experience.  Did any parts of the book make you feel uncomfortable?  Did you gain any new insights or knowledge?

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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann

 

Chronicle One
Osage Indians	White people
Mollie Burkhart Lizzie – mother, died Anna Brown – sister, killed in ravine Minnie – sister, died Rita – sister, died in house explosion   Mollie sent to boarding school at age 7 to learn “white men’s ways”   Mollie and Ernest’s children: Elizabeth, James “Cowboy”, and Anna   Henry Roan “Roan Horse” – shot, briefly married to Mollie in an arranged marriage   Charles Whitehorn – disappeared before Anna   James Bigheart – chief, held off allotment system   William Stepson – poisoned   Allotment System – each person given rights to a certain size plot of land and could sell surface rights.  The Osage kept the oil, gas and mineral rights under the land; could not buy or sell, only inherited	Ernest Burkhart – Mollie’s husband Bryan and Horace – brothers   Oda Brown – Anna’s ex husband   Bill Smith - Minnie’s husband, then Rita’s   Scott Mathis – owned Bill Hill Trading Co., financial guardian for Anna and Lizzie         William Hale – Ernest’s uncle, mastermind of many killings   William Burns – private detective   Barney McBride – white oilman, murdered   W. W. Vaughan – attorney, called by George Bigfoot, murdered Rose - wife   A.W. Comstock – lawyer, guardian for several Osage, part of conspiracy?
Chronicle Two: The Evidence Men
J. Edgar Hoover – Bureau of Investigations   Tom White – special agent, Bureau of Investigation in 1917, in command of field office in Oklahoma City 1925 J. C. “Doc” White – younger brother, former Texas Ranger, joined bureau Dudley White - brother   Emmett White – father, in charge of county jail in Austin, Texas, lived next door with the children   Others on team: John Burger Frank Smith John Wren – American Indian   Roy St. Lewis – U.S. Attorney John Leahy – local attorney
Chronicle Three – The Reporter 2012
David Grann   Kathryn Red Corn – Director, Osage Nation Museum, grandfather poisoned 1931   Margie Burkhart – granddaughter of Mollie and Ernest Andrew Low – husband, Creek Seminole   Martha Vaughan – granddaughter of W. W. Vaughan   H. G. Burt – bank president in 1923 Collected money Bigheart owed Vaughan, guardian of Bigheart’s daughter   Mary Lewis killed in 1918 – one of first

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Pages are from the paperback edition.

1.       Did you enjoy one section of the book more than the other two?  Why?

2.       Were you surprised that the Osage had white servants, such as Rita and Nettie Brookshire?

3.       In chapter 26, the author lists some of the number of Osage wards who died.  For example, one guardian had 11 wards and 8 of them died.   Why do you think no one ever became aware of this and investigated?

4.       According to the author’s research, the killings happened over a period of 13 years, from 1918 (Mary Lewis) through Red Corn’s grandfather in 1931.   How did this remain undetected?

5.       Tom White’s story was one of the main focuses of the second part of the book.  Why do you think the author decided to make his story such a large part of the book?

6.       In April 1931 Molly was declared to no longer be a ward of the state and was “restored to competency.”    She “could finally spend her money as she pleased, and was recognized as a full-fledged American citizen” (page 248).  Were you surprised to learn that it had taken so long?

7.       How have things changed that Native Americans now feel proud of their heritage?  Do you think this book and the movie based on it have helped?

8.       Would you recommend this book to a friend?  Why or why not?

Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Characters
McAfee family	Campanello family
Olivia McAfee - zoologist Asher Fields – son Brandon Fields – husband, divorced, abusive   Parents – apiarists   Jordan – brother, defense attorney Selena – wife, investigator Sam – son   Dirk – Asher’s friend, co-captain of hockey team with Asher   Margot – Brandon’s second wife Shane and Shawn – sons	Lily – cutting, attempted suicide (previously Liam) Ava – mother, National Forest Service   Jonal and Sorel – boyfriend and friend at old school, planned attack   Dr.  Monica Powers – preformed Lily’s surgery
Maya Banjaree – friend of both Asher and Lily Deepa and Sharon – mothers   Lieutenant Mike Newcomb   Judge Rhonda Byers Assistant Attorney General Gina Jewett   Elizabeth (Edgar) – owner of music shop   Dr. Benjamin Oluwye – pathologist, clotting disorder

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       How did the beekeeping scenes add to the story?  Why do you think the authors chose that occupation for Asher’s mother?

2.       Lily had faked being happy for so long, she could not remember how to be sad.  Her therapist told her to fake being sad until she remembered how.  Do you think this was good advice?

3.       Discuss the importance of music and playing the cello was to Lily.  How did this add to her character?

4.       Both mothers kept secrets from their children.  Do you think Olivia should have told Asher about his father’s violent nature?  Was there anything Ava could have done to help Lily’s father accept her?

5.       When thinking about how people have acted toward her, Lily, in her chapter 5, thinks, “I think that what they hate is difference.  What they hate is that the world is complicated in ways they can’t understand” (page 218).  Do you think this is a good description?

6.       When Lily came to Adams High, she chose not to join the Rainbow Alliance at the school and instead, acted as if she was not transgender and dated Asher.  She wondered if it was “just internalized transphobia?  Is my love for him actually a weird way of hating myself?” (page 219).  Why do you think she did what she did?

7.       Did you like the writing style – jumping among characters and time lines, the numbered lists, the inclusion of information about beekeeping and forestry?

8.       What was the purpose of the list, “Five Things About the Bible” on page 211?

9.       Did you think Maya should have been arrested since, when she and Lily were fighting over the phone, she “shoved her away” (page 426)?

10.   The authors addressed many controversial subjects in this book such as racial prejudice, sexual orientation, self-cutting, suicide, abusive husbands, treatment of prisoners in jail, the legal system, abortion.   Was this too much? 

11.   Jodi Picoult often tackles difficult subjects in her books:

a.       My Sister’s Keeper – genetically engineered child to provide organs for first child

b.       Nineteen Minutes – school shooting

c.       The Pact – teen suicide

d.       Sing You Home – gay rights

How well did this book address this issue?  Why do you think she decided to work with a co-author on this book? 

12.   Did the book lead you to think about gender differently?   On page 392 there was a list of things we assign gender to such as hurricanes and ships.  On 392 and 393 the authors wrote “that even sound is gendered.”  Most of the brass instruments in an orchestra are played by boys; in the woodwind’s, bassoon and clarinets by boys but flutes by girls; with stringed instruments the deeper the tone the more likely the musician will be a boy. 

13.   Did her approach to transgenders give you any new insights?  How well did she and her co-author approach the issue?  Do you think the book will be banned in some schools?