The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, by Michael Chabon

 

Characters Takes place in Pittsburgh, PA in the summer following college graduation.

Art Beckstein – narrator Joe – father, gangster Mother – deceased   Lenny Stern – uncle, lieutenant in Pittsburgh organized crime Aunt Elaine   Phlox Lombardi – Girl Behind the Glass at the Library   Arthur Leconte Ondine – mother, cleaning woman   Cleveland Arning Jane Bellweather – girlfriend, golfer   Mohammed “Momo” - friend   Gangsters: Jim Breezy Frankie Breezy Carl Puniche – fences stolen jewelry Feldman Lurch   Locations: Boardwalk Books The Cloud Factory The Lost Neighborhood Various neighborhoods around Pittsburgh

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 1989 Perennial Library edition.

1.       Discuss the various characters.  Were you able to understand their motivations?  Were they portrayed well and so that you could connect with them?

2.       Cleveland’s excuse for never doing anything was that, “Every one of his failings has a perfectly good excuse.  Usually some kind of disaster… so Cleveland is pardoned from every having to do anything good, or productive, ever again” (page 126).   Were you able to understand this about Cleveland?  Was there anything that could be done to help him?

3.       One time when Cleveland and Art were out at a bar, Cleveland said to Art, “Let’s get some pickled eggs” (page 112).   Do you make and like pickled eggs?

4.       The last sentence in the novel is, “No doubt all of this is not true remembrance but the ruinous work of nostalgia, which obliterates the past, and no doubt, as usual, I have exaggerated everything” (page 297).  Did this give you a different idea of the novel?

5.       Many classic novels and authors were mentioned in the novel: Ten Tales of Tension and Terror (Poe, page 231), The Happy Prince (Wilde, 98), and Garcia Marquez (page 111).  Did this add to the novel for you?  Why do you think the author added these?

6.       This novel was first published in 1988 and received rave reviews.  How do you think it would be received today?

7.       The blurbs on the cover of the 1989 edition compare the novel to Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Art Beckstein to Tom Sawyer and Holden Caulfield.  Do you agree?

8.       Is there anything we can learn from this novel today?

The Christie Affair, by Nina du Gramont and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, by Marie Benedict

 NOTE: Members of my book group read both or either one of these novels.

Facts/Real People: Agatha Christie Archibald Christie – was having an affair with, and later married, Nancy/Theresa Neele Daughter Rosaline She worked in a dispensary during the war and learned about poisons Agatha did disappear for 11 days and was found at the Harrogate spa, registered as Theresa Nele She wrote three letters before disappearing: one to secretary that was turned over to the police, two others to Archie and her brother-in-law that were destroyed. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did get a glove and ask a medium for help. She claimed she did not remember anything that happened.
The Christie Affair	The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
Agatha and Archie Christie Teddy – daughter Honoria – nanny and secretary   Nan O’Dea – mistress, narrator Genevieve - baby with Finbarr given for adoption Sisters – Coleen (deceased), Megs, Louisa Parents   Finbarr Mahoney   Deputy Chief Constable Thompson Inspector Frank Chilton – called out of retirement, found Agatha on day 4 but did not report it Sam Lippincott - police, with Chilton in war   Convent: Sister Mary Clare Father Joseph – rapist Nan (daughter Genevieve) Bess (son Ronan) – raped by Father Joseph   Bellefort Hotel and Spa – Harrogate Simon and Isabelle Leech – owners, Lippincott’s cousin Mr. and Mrs. Marston (Sister Mary Clare and Father Joseph) – murdered Lizzie (Bess) and Donny Clarke Mrs. and Mr. Race (Bess’ sister and husband)  Finbarr Chilton  Mrs. Cornelia Armstrong Nan “Genevieve O’Dea”	Agatha and Archie Christie Rosalind – daughter Charlotte Fisher – nanny and secretary   Agatha’s family: Mother Madge – older sister (12 years), writer Monty - brother   Sam and Madge Owens – golf friends   Nancy Neele – Archie’s mistress   Deputy Chief Constable Kenwood Superintendent Charles Goddard Commander Reynolds – Scotland Yard

For Discussion:

NOTE – Page numbers are from hardback editions of novels.

The Christie Affair – written from Nan’s point of view

1.       Was it logical that Finbarr kept showing up: at Ballycotton when he was sick, a year later when he found Nan in London when war ended, six years later he found Agatha when she crashed car, and then was at the Bellefort Hotel?

2.       Did you like that there were two focuses on the novel – Agatha’s disappearance and what happened to unwed mothers during this time period?  Do you agree with this statement?

3.       Discuss your reading experience.  Were you able to follow along, particularly everyone who was at Harrogate and who they really were?

4.       Did you like the last paragraph and the way the narrator spoke directly to the reader?

5.       Was the story believable?  Does that matter?

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

6.       Agatha’s mother’s advised to always put her husband first and do everything for his happiness, at the expense of herself and any children.   Do you think this was typical of the 1920s? 

7.       Archie was greatly changed when he came home from the war.   If this had not happened, do you think the outcome of their marriage would have been different?   Given the time, was there anything he or Agatha could do?

8.       Archie’s excuse for ending the marriage was, “I hate it when people are ill or unhappy.  It spoils everything for me.  It spoiled us, Agatha” (page 195).  Was this a result of his war experience or did you think he was always self-centered like this and kept it hidden?

9.       Did you understand that the manuscript Agatha kept referring to in Part Two was what you had read throughout the book?  If she had released it, do you think it would have had the intended result portraying Archie in a bad light?

Both novels

10.   Both novels have the same disclaimer on the copyright page: “The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used factiously.”  How important is it for the reader to keep this in mind?

11.   Compare how Archie was portrayed in the two books.  His portrayal in the Marie Benedict book was especially unflattering.  How fair is this to him if this is not true? 

Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle, by Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg

 

People

Elizabeth Hughes Gossett Charles Evans Hughes – father, Supreme Court, Secretary of State for President Harding Antoinette – mother Siblings – Charles Jr., Helen (deceased), Catherine Blanche Burgess – nurse and constant companion Willian T. Gossett – husband

Frederick Grant Banting – discovered insulin Charles Best and Clark Noble – assistants Bert Collip – biochemist John James Rickard Macleod – supervisor, always used “we” when talking about discovery

Frederick Madison Allen The Physiatric Institute “The Allen Diet” Eddie – interested in birds with Elizabeth Teddy Ryder – scrapbook with pictures of food, died age 76, last surviving member of first group treated by Banding, scrapbook in Fisher Rare Book Library at University of Toronto

George Henry Alexander Clowes Employed by Eli Lilly Approached Banting and Best at conference to get drug for Eli Lilly

Others: Dr. Joe Gilchrist – first human to receive insulin on 12-20-1921

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2010 paperback edition.

1.       Could you survive on “The Allen Diet?”

2.       It was only two about two years from the time Banting started working on the drug until it became available to diabetes patients.   This is much faster than today, except for the COVID vaccine.   Would you have volunteered your child to be one of the first to receive insulin?

3.       Banting’s lab used (and killed) many dogs and rabbits.   Could this be done today?  Was it worth the sacrifice of all the animals?

4.       Should Elizabeth feel guilty that she got the drug at the expense of another child who did not?

5.       Discuss Charles Hughes and his decision to use his political influence to get help for Elizabeth.  Should he have had second thoughts because his position helped his daughter at the expense of another child whose father was not well known and connected.

6.       Why do you think there was such a drastic change in Charles after he got the help for Elizabeth?

 

7.       The authors wrote that, “Charles now understood something that Elizabeth had learned through her years of trial – that the purpose of living is not to preserve life but to lose it.  Living is by necessity a process of continuous loss” (page 212).  They then wrote that his request “had released Charles to become more fully human than he had ever dared to be” (page 212).    What do you think the authors meant?

 

8.       Why do you think the authors chose the four people they did as the focus for their book? 

9.       There was a celebration on the ship to initiate those who had never crossed the equator before into the “Sons of Neptune.”  Have you crossed the equator?  Are you a Son (or Daughter) of Neptune?