Beach Music, by Pat Conroy (Preface and Parts 1, 2 and 3)

NOTE:  My Library Book Group is discussing this book over two months.  This discussion guide is for the first half of the book, followed by a prediction/preview of the second half.

Characters
McCall family	Others
Jack McCall Shyla – wife, suicide Leah – daughter Judge Johnson Hagood McCall – father Lucy – mother Dr. John Pitts – Lucy’s second husband Brothers: Dupree Dallas – lawyer with dad’s firm Tee – second youngest John Hardin – youngest, mental problems Paternal grandparents: Silas Ginny Penn The Great Dog Chippie	Shyla Fox’s family: Martha – sister Ruth – mother Father – both parents Holocaust survivors Jack’s high school friends: Leader Middleton Capers Middleton - divorced from Ledare, political ambitions, 2nd wife Betsy Mike Hess – Hollywood produced Jordan Elliott – fugitive, priest in Rome Jordan’s parents: Celestine General Elliott Max Rusoff – Mike’s father, department store owner, mayor of Waterford In Kironittska was apprenticed as child to: Arel the Muscle – blacksmith Mottele the Blade - butcher

For discussion:

1. Jack:
1. What were the positives and negatives of moving with Leah to Italy?  Do you think this was a wise choice?  What would you have done in Jack’s circumstances?
2. Why did the Fox family attack Jack to vehemently?  Could they have handled things differently?  Was it possible for them to get along at that time?
3. When Martha came to visit to try to promote a reconciliation, Jack left her with Leah and went to Venice, even though at that point Leah knew nothing about Shyla’s story or her own background.  Why did Jack trust Martha and do this?   Was this realistic or fair to Leah?

2. Jordan:
1. Why do you think Jordan’s father betrayed him and turned him in?
2. Can you understand the General’s side of the story?   Given his personality, was he able to react any differently?
3. Throughout the first half of the book, Lucy and Max Rusoff’s stories were included.  What do you think the purpose is of these stories?  
4. Regarding Max, do you think the Jews of Kironittska were justified in how they treated Max after he killed to two Cossacks who were violating Anna Singers?
5. What is the purpose of The Great Dog Chippie stories?  Regarding stories in general, Jack said to Leah in the hospital, “Stories don’t have to be true.  They just have to help.”  (Chapter 18) 
6. What did you think of the different reactions when all of the McCall brothers gathered for Lucy’s illness?  Tee was the only brother who showed sadness.  Jack thought about why men are not allowed to cry and decided that, “we die long before women do, with our hearts exploding or our blood pressure rising or our livers eaten away by alcohol because that lake of grief inside us has no outlet.”  (end of Chapter 14)
7. Dallas explained why he stayed in his father’s law practice by telling Jack, “You may not have noticed, but our father’s a tragic man.”  (beginning of Chapter 15)   Do you agree or not?  Can you see him in that light?
8. Are any parents depicted in a positive light?
9. What did you think about Mike’s movie plans?  What is his motive?  Why did Ledare agree to work on the movie? 
10. How do you think the story will end?

If you have only read the first half of the book:

In chapter 20 Jack said to Leah that, “All life connects…. Nothing happens that is meaningless.”  How do you think everything will connect together at the end of the book?

What questions do you hope to have answered in the second half of the book?

If you have already completed the book:

What surprises are in store for the reader in the second half?

What seems important in the first half that will not be important to the final story?

*****

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