A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan

Chapter and Year	Characters
Chapter 1	Sasha – 35 years old Coz - therapist Alex – date Bennie Salazar – record producer ·         Stephanie – wife – divorced ·         Christopher - son
Chapter 2 2006	Bennie – 44 Chris – 9 Sasha Stop/Go Sisters
Chapter 3 1979 High School	Rhea – narrator Scotty Bennie Jocelyn Lou – adult man in LA – picked up Jocelyn hitchhiking
Chapter 4 1973 Safari	Lou – 6 kids – record producer Mindy – 23 – girlfriend – studying for Ph.D. in Anthropology, will marry Lou Rolph – son – 11 Charlie – 14 – daughter Joe – grandson of warrior who flirted with Charlie Cora – travel agent Albert – local driver Chronos – attacked by lion when leaves tour car
Chapter 5 1999	Jocelyn – narrator Rhea – 43 Lou – 2 strokes
Chapter 6 1997	Scotty – narrator – takes dead fish to Bennie Bennie
Chapter 7 2003 - 2004	Stephanie Bennie – 42 Chris – kindergarten La Doll – owner of PR agency where Stephanie works Jules Jones – Stephanie’s brother – ex con – attempted rape of Kitty Jackson
Chapter 8 2009	Dolly – formally La Doll Lulu – 9 – daughter The General Arc – General’s human relations captain Kitty Jackson – 28
Chapter 9 1999	Kitty Jackson Jules Jones
Chapter 10	Rob – narrator – drowned swimming in river with Drew Drew Sasha – 21 – freshman
Chapter 11	Sasha – 19 -  disappeared two years ago Ted Hollander – Sasha’s uncle – looking for Sasha in Napes, Italy Susan – Ted’s wife Beth – Sasha’s mother Hammer – Beth’s second husband
Chapter 12 202_ Power Point	Sasha Drew - doctor Alison Blake – 12 – Sasha and Drew’s daughter Lincoln – 13 – obsessed with pauses in rock songs
Chapter 13 2020+	Bennie – late 50’s Lupa – wife Ava - daughter Alex – Sasha’s date from chapter 1 Rebecca – wife Cara – daughter Scotty Hausmann – singer – chapter 6 Lulu – Bennie’s assistant – early 20s –chapter 8 Joe – Lulu’s fiancé – from Kenya – chapter 4 “Pointers” – children - anyone could download music who could point Starfish or Kiddie Handsets – used by toddlers to download music

 

For discussion:

1. Discuss the various characters.  Who did you like, dislike? 

2. Discuss La Doll’s New Year’s Eve party, The Party or the List, where she tried to rival Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball.  Did you find it interesting that years later people where burning themselves in order to make it appear that they had been there?
1. Could the hot oil have been symbolic of something?

3. Did you like the way the writer would tell what would happen to a character far into the future?

4. In the last chapter which predicted the future, what was the “water wall” that caused an early sunset?

5. In the last chapter, Alex and Rebecca’s view from their window was being obstructed by a new high rise.    Is the author sending a message?

6. What do you think about the author’s prediction about the future of the entertainment industry as well as our use of electronics and media?
1. Strollers prohibited at all public gatherings – hampered evacuation
2. Constant helicopters overhead
3. The use of texting and texting language
4. Alison creating a power point show and considering that writing

7. What is the significance of the title?

8. Think about your reading experience with this book:
1. Were you able to keep the characters straight?
2. Did you like how an early minor character (Joe, Scotty) became important later in the book?
3. How hard did you have to work to keep the time line straight?  Would it have added or detracted from your enjoyment if the author had been more direct?

9. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction as well as other numerous awards.  Do you think the honors were deserved?

State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett

Characters
Minnesota	Brazil, Amazon River
Vogel Labs Mr. Jim Fox - CEO Marina Singh – student of Dr. Swenson’s Anders Eckman Karen – wife Three sons	Lakashi Tribe – females able to reproduce until end of life Dr. Swenson – 70 years old, studying fertility, Dr. Rapp’s mistress Bovenders Barbara – writer Jackie – surfer Milton Rodrigo – brother-in-law, store owner Easter Dr. Martin Rapp – Harvard ethnobotanist, deceased 9 years when Mariana arrives Dr. Thomas Nkomo – studying malaria Dr. Alan Saturn – student of Dr. Rapp’s, studying malaria Dr. Nancy Saturn – Alan’s wife and possibly former student, botanist Dr. Budi – Studying malaria Benoit – attended missionary school as child, wants to work in tourism Rapp mushrooms – hallucinogenic, pale blue Martins – trees, prolongs fertility and prevents malaria Purple Martinet – moth – goes into wound of tree, eats and then excretes Fertility is from combination of tree and martinet

For discussion:

1.       Review the incident when Mariana delivered the baby because Dr. Swenson did not come when paged.   She accidentally blinded and scarred the baby.  Who do you think was at fault?  Why?

2.       Were you surprised that Dr. Swenson did not remember Mariana?

3.       Do you think Mr. Fox was correct to want Mariana to stay after she found Dr. Swenson and confirmed that she was still working on the drug? 

4.       On page 143 of the hardback, Dr. Swenson states, “None of us know how life will work out, Dr. Singh.”   Has this been true in your own life?

5.       Were you surprised that Dr. Swenson was pregnant?  There were several hints throughout the book:

a.       Page 159 of hardback – on the boat Dr. Swenson was “panting lightly as if making an effort not to vomit.”

b.      Page 167 – “She was thicker around the middle than she had been in Baltimore.” (Mariana of Dr. Swenson)

c.       Page 167 – “From all I know about the body this is still not what I expected.” (Dr. Swenson)

6.       Review the incident at the beginning of Dr. Swenson’s time in the Amazon when she treated a girl who had been cut on her head by her brother.  After that people started to come to her for medical treatment and she felt this hindered her research.  She stated that was a mistake to intervene, that she should have let their world progress as if she was not there.  Do you agree?

7.       Discuss how Dr. Swenson used compliments – not to build up the person being complimented but to knock down another who was not complimented.  Have you ever met anyone like this?  Do you think Dr. Swenson would have been able to accomplish as much as she did if she had treated people more kindly?

8.       Consider Marina’s dreams of her father.  How do these memories affect her current situation?

9.       Anders wanted to take Easter to the United States to live with his family.  How do you think this would have worked out?

10.   Why did Dr. Swenson say that Anders was dead when she did not know for sure?  What did happen to Anders?

11.   Was it ethical to have Vogel Labs pay for all of the science when they only thought they were paying for the fertility drug?

12.   Was it right for Mariana to trade Easter for Anders?  Was it right for Dr. Swenson to keep Easter in the first place?

13.   What do you think happened to Easter?  Did he find his way back to Dr. Swenson?

14.   Do you think Mariana will go back as Dr. Swenson predicted?