Book Club Questions 2005

Jump to: David Baldacci's Hour Game | E. L. Doctorow's Sweet Land Stories | Lisa Michael's Grand Illusion | Brad Dimock's Sunk Without a Sound

Questions for 2004 titles

David Baldacci Hour Game

1. How does the chemistry between the two investigators add to the book?

2. This book depends and centers on its plot. What is the best surprise in the events? Where is the plot on thinnest ice? (What is most credible and solid about the plot?)

3. David Baldacci says that books like Hour Game have a following because of our fundamental belief in (fear of) the boogey man? Do you agree?

E. L. Doctorow Sweet Land Stories

1. These are what we might call "dark" stories, yet they have an odd "lilt." In "House on the Plains" how does the point of view keep the story from being absolutely gruesome? What does the narrator leave out?

2. Does Jolene in "Jolene: A Life" learn anything? Is there any optimism by the ending?

3. If these were all of Doctorow's men and women, how would you describe his world view?

4. In "Walter John Harmon" how does Doctorow keep the narrator from seeming an absolute fool, or is he?

Lisa Michaels Grand Ambition

1. A novelist has some freedom, some license. What are examples of Michaels' license in writing this book?

2. What does her use of Glen's father's voice do to the book? Why did she choose such a strategy?

3. Is her version of what happened credible? Where is it most credible? Least?

Brad Dimock Sunk Without a Sound

1. What does B. Dimock's personal experience add to this book?

2. Will the legend of Glen and Bessie grow, based on those who have since claimed involvement in their lives? (Will this book help close or open the case?)

3. Did the family histories add to your understanding of the story?

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