Henry, Himself, by Stewart O'Nan

 

Characters

Henry Maxwell Emily – wife Margaret – daughter ·       Jeff – husband ·       Sarah and Justin - children Kenny – son ·       Lisa – wife ·       Ella and Sam - children   Arlene – Henry’s sister   Sloan – Henry’s girlfriend before Emily   Rufus – Emily’s dog Rufus – was Henry’s dog   Chautauqua – family’s summer cabin

Pittsburgh references – partial list

The Tin Angel, Mt. Washington – page 22 Pirates – page 52 Iron City beer – page 52 Highland Park, McKees Rocks, fish fry – page 53 Homewood – page 58 Parkway, Churchill – page 65 Murrysville – page 66 Phipps Conservatory – page 77 Jyggle – page 233

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2019 paperback edition.

1.       How well did the author describe Henry’s personality?  He was an engineer, and as an engineer “he had a respect for the practical that extended to every facet of living, and was happiest when he saw an opportunity to fix a problem” (page 86).  Did this add to your understanding of his character?

2.       Regarding Emily, how well did the author explain her personality?  She “knew everything about their neighbors, and everyone at the club” (page 23).  But also, she had been locked in her bedroom as a child by her mother.

3.       What did you think about the relationship between Kenny’s wife Lisa and Henry and Emily?  Should Lisa have made more of an effort to fit in?   Did things seem to change when Emily was taking care of Margaret at Thanksgiving and Lisa helped with the dinner preparations?  Why did things seem different?

4.       Henry had been in the war.  On Decoration Day, he thought, “He had no use for parades or speeches or moments of silence.  He didn’t need a special occasion to recall the dead” (page 111).  And, “As much as he sometimes wished he could, he would never forget any of it.  He tried” (page 111).  Do you understand his thoughts?   Did this give you any insight into our veterans today?

5.       One of the reasons Henry liked golf was because “On the course he concentrated on the next shot and let go of his worries” (page 69).  Do you have any activities that occupy you mind and give you a break from the everyday concerns?

6.       Henry and Emily’s church was having a rummage sale and Henry wanted to donate some of the following to the sale while Emily did not: a ceramic chip and dip shaped like a sombrero, a plastic lighthouse cookie jar, plastic pitchers, a mahogany smoked salmon platter shaped like a salmon, and (my favorite) an old meat grinder used to make ham salad (pages 153 – 154).  Do you have any of these or the others listed in the book?

7.       Emily donated four bunches of glass grapes that had been in Henry’s family. While Henry was upset, Emily said that no one wanted them in the family.  Were you surprised that no one bought them at the sale and that Henry brought them home and hid them?   Do you have anything you would have trouble giving away?

8.       Did all of the Pittsburgh references add to your enjoyment of the book?  How do you think a person who did not know Pittsburgh would read the book?  Does it make a difference to you if the setting of a story is familiar to you?

9.       This was basically a story about ordinary people – there was no overriding large event.  How well did the author describe the characters?  Did the author get and retain your interest throughout the novel?

 

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson

 

Hikers and others on the trail	History
Bill Bryson – started March 9, 1996 Stephen Katz   First part of trip – walked 500 miles and 1,250,000 steps   Total miles for Bryson – 870 miles, 39.5% of trail   Mary Ellen   Donna and Darren   Bob – wanted to “talk equipment”   Chicken John – always getting lost   Emma “Grandma” Gatewood – twice walked trail in late 60s, most famous thru hiker   Woodrow Murphy – walking fat man	1921 – Benton MacKaye – initial idea Charles Harris Whitaker – published idea   1925 – Appalachian Train Conference founded   1930 – Myron Avery – organized construction of trail   1948 – Earl V. Shaffer – first person to hike the trail from end to end, average 17 miles per day   1968 – National Trail System Act - under Stewart Udall, secretary of the interior,
Facts
2100+ miles, Georgia to Maine Five months and 5 million steps to walk entire trail Maintained by volunteers 10% of those who start actually finish Thru-hikers and section-hikers

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the First Anchor Books Edition, January 2007.

1.       Would you have put up with Katz?  At least at the beginning, Bryson was always either waiting for him or going back to find him. 

2.       Discuss Katz and Bryson’s friendship.  It seemed they really did not know each other that well and Katz did not have to be there.  On the other hand, Bryson wrote in chapter 4 that, “We seemed to be looking out for each other.  It was very nice.  I can put it no other way” (page 71).

3.       Katz’s view of the hike was much different from Bryson’s.  To Katz, “hiking was a tiring, dirty, pointless slog between distantly spaced comfort zones” (page 123).  Why didn’t he quit?

 

 

4.       Have you ever been in a very dense woods with no one else around?  On the one hand, Bryson wrote that “woods are spooky” (page 62) and “you are jumpier than Don Knotts with pistol drawn” (page 63).  He also wrote, “the woods are great providers of solitude, and I encountered long periods of perfect aloneness” (page 71).   How do you think you would feel alone in a dense forest?

5.       The author was very critical of both the National Park Service and the Forest Service.  Of the National Park Service, he wrote that it “has something of a tradition of making things extinct” (page 131) and it has a “more casual approach to endangering wildlife: neglect” (page 132).  Of the Forest Service, he said that what it mostly does is “build roads…for private timber companies” (page 66).  Were you surprised by these thoughts?

6.       Two hundred thirty miles of the AT are in Pennsylvania.  Our state did not get a very pleasant review in the book!  Did you know about all of the anthracite coal and oil in our state?  Did you think Pennsylvania received a fair assessment?

7.       When he and Katz were in Gatlinburg, he saw a four-foot-tall map of the trail and realized they had only covered two inches.  At that point they realized there were not going to make it to Maine.  They both found this fact liberating – “If we couldn’t walk the whole trail, we also didn’t have to...We could enjoy ourselves.” (page 150).  Did you understand why they were not disappointed but found it a positive realization?  Have you ever experienced giving up a goal only to find it a positive thing? 

8.       Did you like the mix of personal experiences on the hike with U. S. history and geography of the trail?  For example, the author wrote about Harper’s Ferry and Stonewall Jackson in chapter 13.

9.       Given that this book was written in 1998, Bryson reported that “every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week” (page 183).  Do you think this is still true today?

10.   At the end of the novel, Bryson listed what he had gained from the venture.  Besides personal accomplishments (slept under the stars, for example), he said, “I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world…I discovered an America that millions of people scarcely know exists” (page 393).  Did he convey these revelations well during the novel?   Did you gain any of that understanding through reading his account?

11.   Would you take on such a project or goal?

Emily, Alone, by Stewart O'Nan

 

Awards:

·       ALA – one of outstanding books of 2011

·       Atlantic Monthly – one of best books of the year

·       2013 – long-listed for Dublin Literary Award

 

Characters	Pittsburgh locations, etc.
Emily Maxwell Henry – husband, deceased   Arlene – sister-in-law   Louise Pickering– friend   Kenneth – son Lisa – wife Ella and Sam – children   Margaret – daughter Sarah and Justin – children   Jim and Marcia Cole – neighbors   Rufus – dog   Betty – cleaning lady	Fern Hollow Bridge - page 151 Homewood Cemetery   Phipps Conservatory   Post-Gazette, comics and crosswords – page 26

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2011 paperback edition

1.       If you have in-laws, did you understand Emily’s problems with Lisa, Kenneth’s wife?  Was there anything that she could do to help the relationship?

2.       Emily thought TV was “chewing gum for the mind” (page 133).   Do you agree with her?   She did like the PBS mysteries.  How were they different from regular TV shows?

3.       Emily placed great value on thank you notes.  She thought they were “more than a genteel nicety, reflecting, as it did, the bonds of love and respect upon which all relationships depended” (page 128).   On the other hand, her daughter thought that people should give gifts because it made them happy and that thank you notes were “useless formalities” and there “should be no obligation involved, no guilt” (page 129).  Where are you in this debate?  Can you understand the opposite view from yours?

4.       Did the author do a good job of describing the aging process?  If you are nearing Emily’s age, was there anything that particularly resonated with you?

5.       How differently would a younger person and someone near Emily’s age relate to this book?

6.       When it was published, the book received numerous award nominations.  Do you think they were deserved?  Why did the book receive so much attention?

First Ladies, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

 

Eleanor Roosevelt	Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – husband Children – Anna, Elliott, James “Brud”, John, Franklin Jr. (died as infant), Franklin Jr.   Sara Delano Roosevelt – mother-in-law	Albert Sr. – son Albert Jr. - grandson
Personal and Professional Life	Professional Life
Todhunter School for Girls – owner and teacher   Val-Kill Industries – reproduction and carpentry training   Val-Kill Cottage   Marion Dickerson and Nan Cook – friends, live at Val-Kill   Lorena Hickok “Hick”   Earl – Secret Service Agent   Newspaper column – “My Day”	Bethune-Cookman College – president   National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs – president   National Council of Negro Women, 1936   McLeod Hospital   Bethune Beach   Bethune Funeral Home - 1936 – run by Albert Sr.   National Youth Administration, Division of Negro Affairs – director, 1936   Walter White – NAACP executive secretary, could pass for white   Column in Pittsburgh Courier – “From Day to Day”
FDR
Lucy Mercer – affair with FDR   Missy LeHand – secretary   Louis Howe – friend and advisor, died 1936   Steve Woodburn – replaced Howe, worked against Eleanor (fictional – see page 373)

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.       At the very beginning of the book, Mary was at a dress shop, a woman introduces herself to Mary as “Mrs. Wallace” but calls Mary by her first name.   Mrs. Wallace has no idea why this offends Mary and is insulted when Mary points this out.   Did this give you an idea of the difficulties and lack of respect Mary faced in general?

2.       Were you surprised at all of the unspoken rules about behavior between whites and blacks?  For example, they couldn’t touch (page 244) or eat together in public.  

3.       Have you ever heard of Mary Bethune before this book?  If not, why do you think that was the case? 

4.       In February 1935 there was an art exhibit, An Art Commentary of Lynching, in New York City.  Why did the art work move people so much when mere words might not have?

5.       At one point, Eleanor Roosevelt told Walter White at the art exhibit, that “Inaction in the face of racism is acquiescence to it” (page 190).   Are there other areas where the same can be said – that doing nothing is the same as approval?

6.       Did this book give you any new insights into Eleanor?  Did you know Eleanor’s mother was so critical and demeaning to her growing up?  How did this form her as an adult?

7.       Franklin’s infidelity is fairly commonly known.  Did you know about Eleanor and Hick and the idea of a “Boston marriage?”

8.       When Mary attended the Gridiron Widow’s dinner, Eleanor said to her, “I hope you won’t be uncomfortable as the only Negro in the room” (page 258).  In fact, the room was full of Negro servers, but Eleanor had never paid attention to them.  Was this her fault or a commentary on the times?  Were there any other incidents that stuck out to you as you were reading?

9.       The two authors invented a lot of the information in the novel, which is billed as Historical Fiction.  They explained their thinking in the Historical Note at the end.   What did you think about their inventions?

10.   Do you think this story could just have effectively been written by a single white author?

11.   The blurb on the front of the book said that the book will “expand your perspective.”  Did it do so?

The Persian Pickle Club, by Sandra Dallas

 

Characters

Persian Pickle Club

Queenie Bean – narrator: Grover, husband Rita Ritter – new member; Tom, husband Agnew T. Ritter – Rita’s sister-in-law Sabra Ritter Velma Burgett Nettie Burgett – Tyrone, husband Forest Ann Finding – widow, Nettie’s sister-in-law; affair with Dr Sipes Opalia Dux Ceres Root Ella Crook - “widow,” abandoned by husband, Ben Crook Septima Judd – Prosper, husband; Ella’s parents Ada June Zinn

Others

Hiawatha and Duty Jackson – lived on Ella’s farm   Joe Blue Massie Zepha – wife Sonny and Baby   Reverand Foster Olive   Sherrif Eagles

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the 2014 paperback anniversary edition.

1.       What do you think really happened to Ben Crook?

2.       What was your favorite part of the book?  What character did you like or dislike?

3.       There were several life’s lessons included in the book such as: “Forrest Ann deserves a little kindness” (page 117); regarding Ella, “Helping people perked her up” (page 121); and the loyalty of the group in general.   Do you think that was partly the author’s purposes in writing the novel?

4.       This book was first published in 1995 and released this year in a 20^th Anniversary Edition.  Why do you think it have been so popular?

5.       Did the novel make you interested in quilting or quilts?  Do you have any old quilts with memories attached?

The Circular Staircase, by Mary Roberts Reinhart

 

Characters

Aunt Rachel Innes Libby Allen – servant   Gertrude – niece Halsey – nephew   John “Jack” Bailey – cashier at Trader’s Bank, engaged to Gertrude   Armstrong Family – owners, Sunnyside Paul – husband, President Trader’s Bank Wife Arnold – Paul’s son Louise – Paul’s step-daughter, engaged to Halsey or Dr. Walker Anne Watson – housekeeper   Dr. Walker – Armstrong family physician   Dr. Stewart – town physician   Help at Sunnyside: Thomas Johnson – African American butler Rosie – parlor maid Anne Watson – housekeeper, from Armstrong’s Warner – chauffer Alexander Graham – gardener (really Jack Bailey) Eliza – cook, left Mattie Bliss – new cook, smallpox scars, Nina Carrington   Mr. Jamison – detective Mr. Burns – second detective   Others: Nina Carrington Lucy – Anne Watson’s sister, married Arnold Armstrong and was abandoned Lucien Wallace – mother Lucy and father Arnold Armstrong Mrs. Tate – Lucien’s adopted mother

 

For Discussion:

1.       Did you like the way the author gave clues about the solution?  For example, when introducing Alexander Graham she wrote, “I have been particular about Alex, because, as I said before, he played an important part later” (chapter 13).

2.       Given the references to African Americans, would this book be banned today?  For example, in chapter 3, when introducing Thomas, she wrote, “it was always my belief that a negro is one part thief, one part pigment, and the rest superstition.”

3.       The book was published in 1908.  Did the dated references and vocabulary make any difference (positive or negative) in you reading?   For example, in chapter 9 Rachel forgot to remove her “wrinkle eradicators.”

4.       Did you enjoy the relationship between Rachel and Libby?  Libby was always quitting and Rachel was always firing her, but they stayed together.

5.       Which clues helped you and which were Red Herrings?  What others in addition to these did you find?

a.       The partial cufflink Rachel found outside the window.

b.       Chapter 2 – scratches and dent on stairs

c.       Chapter 9 – Gertrude sprained right foot, Halsey would not tell Rachael where he went the first night, Armstrong brought a telegram for Bailey

d.       Chapter 18 – new hole in trunk room wall

6.       Discuss your reading experience.  Did you think you knew the solution before it was revealed?  How did this novel compare to other mysteries you have read?

7.       If you read a different novel or more than one, what was it and did you like it?  Did you figure out the mystery?

8.       Mary Roberts Rinehart has been called America’s Agatha Christie.  Do you agree? 

 

Mary Robert Reinhart

Born in Allegheny, PA – today within city limits 1982 – published first piece in Pittsburgh Press monthly contest 1893 – Pittsburgh Training School for Nurses Dr. Stanley Marshall Reinhart – husband, lived with two brothers on Western Avenue, North Side Mary and husband started married life on Western Avenue 1904 – started seriously selling work 1907 – moved to Beech Street 1908 – The Circular Staircase published, first novel 1911 – 1912 – moved to Sewickley   Publications: ·       30+ novels ·       12 nonfiction books ·       Autobiography ·       Numerous short stories and articles