Silo Falls September 2022

 

Wild Women and The Blues -discussion questions

 1. When was The Jazz Age? Do you have any favorite musicians from the period?

2. Oscar Micheaux was one of several black filmmakers who produced “race films.” These films starred black actors and actresses who portrayed characters that weren’t featured in Hollywood’s racist stereotypes. How do you think the race films of the 1920’s – 1940’s may have set the stage for the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s? (Coffey, Shaft, Cleopatra Jones, Superfly).

3. The music of the Jazz Age is thought to be the soundtrack of the Roaring Twenties. What music forms do you think have defined other generations?

4. Was Honoree Dalcour a “New Negro” or naturally resourceful and stubborn about what she valued about her life in Chicago?

5. How did you feel about Honoree taking in the homeless Bessie Palmer? Was it an act of kindness or frustration with the other chorus girls at Miss Hattie’s Garden Cafe? Toward the end of the novel, did Honoree feel genuine affection for Bessie or more of an obligation to her pregnant roommate?

6. In 2015, Sawyer’s depression was a complicated response to the loss of his sister and his estranged relationship with his father. Why do you think he is so haunted by his sister? Would he be better able to deal with his grief and guilt with a more supportive family?

Helluva Book - discussion questions

 1. In HELL OF A BOOK, The Author says, “I am, after all, not an activist…. I’m a professional” (82). What do you think this character means by that? What do you think it means to write as an activist?

2. The police shooting of an unarmed Black boy is playing over and over on the news throughout the novel. Discuss how this aspect of the story makes you think about the way racism, injustice and violence function in our society.

3. The Author says, “In this world that we live in, the fact of the matter is that it’s hard to think of anyone as being real” (98). Do you agree? How do social media and screens mediate our experiences of others? How do they affect our ability to empathize or make connections? Think about this in regards to when you’ve seen videos of anti-Black violence or violence against diverse communities go viral.

4. According to The Author, his “pops was afraid. Always afraid. Every second of every day. His life was one long, sustained terror” (126). Why does The Author describe this fear as dangerous? What are the consequences of having to live in constant fear because of your skin color?

5. The Author struggles with whether or not to tell The Kid what it means to be Black in America, that he will be treated differently because of his skin. Discuss the questions he grapples with: “What kind of thing is that to tell a kid? What kind of moment does it create? What does it take away? What does it leave them with?” (206).

6. The Author was a kid who “belonged nowhere. And, because of it, most of his life, he felt like nothing” (250). What is the relationship between feeling a sense of belonging and self-esteem? How can community bolster one’s identity? What communities are part of your identity?

7. Soot imagines another world where he could love himself and the color of his skin, which he calls home. Discuss this conception of home and how imagination can make reality less painful. What role does imagination play in your own life?

8. In the world of this novel, reality and fiction have porous borders. How do they relate to each other? Have you ever felt like the lines were blurred between what is real and what is not?

9. Discuss why Soot’s parents wanted him to be able to become invisible. What do you think they see as the relationship between being unseen and safe? What does that coping mechanism say about society in a broader sense?

10. How do the perspectives of The Author, Soot and the other characters work together, and how do they differ? How are their perspectives influenced by the way they are treated by American society?

11. What do you think about The Author’s struggle with facing reality? Discuss some of The Author’s ways of coping with problems and fears that sometimes feel insurmountable. Do you think that writing or reading can be a way of coping? What are some tactics you employ to cope with challenges in your own life?

12. When you first started reading, did you notice that Jason Mott didn’t name The Author? Why do you think he did that? Do you agree or disagree that naming something makes it more real?

13. Discuss the relationship The Author has with his agent and media trainer in the novel. Do you think they are offering good advice? How do you think being Black changes the way The Author experiences publishing a book?

14. Jason Mott has described aspects of the novel as comedic, noting the inclusion of humorous anecdotes about being an author on tour and some language from his favorite old movies. In what ways is the book humorous? How do the more humorous moments juxtapose the more serious or tragic ones?

15. Early on in the book, we’re told that HELL OF A BOOK is a love story. Do you agree? Was it the kind of love story you expected?

16. Since meeting The Author in the hotel at the beginning of the book, has your opinion of him changed? Why or why not?

Ms. Benson's Beetle - discussion

 

1. How does Margery and Enid's relationship change throughout the novel? How do their opinions of each other evolve? 
2. Enid and Margery talk a lot about the idea of 'vocation'. What do you think vocation means?
3. What did the golden beetle represent for Margery?
4. What was your reaction when Margery stole the boots? What do you think that decision represents throughout the course of the novel?
5. Discuss the relationship between Enid and her husband, Percy.
6. What did you think was in the red valise? Were you surprised when you found out what it was?
7. Ending the novel with the introduction of a new character is a bold move, but the short chapter tells us a lot about Margery's later life. Do you think Freya will make it to New Caledonia? What was it about Margery's story that inspired her?

Blessed are the Cheesemakers- discussion questions

 1. The author hails from New Zealand, but she has spent time in Ireland, and she has made that land the location of her fiction. What does the Irish setting contribute to this novel? In other words, are there events or people that are unlikely to have occurred somewhere else?

 

2. Before the female protagonist, Abbey, leaves her marriage, the author says: "It wasn't a bad life, but she wasn't entirely sure it was her life. She clung to her love of Martin like a drowning man to an inflatable life raft....She wasn't herself, Martin was right about that. But then who the hell was she? She didn't belong in this paradise, but she didn't belong anywhere else, either. She was nobody. Nowhere." (p. 42) It seems that Abbey feels lost. What has she done to lose herself? How can she find herself? How typical do you feel this situation is for married women?

 

3. Both main characters Abbey and Kit have had failed marriages. What was wrong with their relationships? In your opinion, when should you fight to save a marriage or when should you walk away from it? Will Abbey and Kit's marriage to each other endure, do you think? Why or why not?

 

4. One of the oldest themes in fiction is to have someone who is dead or thought to be dead return. Why do you suppose that idea is so appealing? Who returns in this book? What are the consequences of those returns?

 

5. A related theme in this book is that of change or transformation. Who or what changes? Does change always involve loss?

 

6. The book has been compared to Joanne Harris' Chocolat. Besides the focus on a food, both novels have a "whiff" of magic. In fact, magic abounds in this book, from "the magic of coincidence" (185) to the magic of cheese-induced attraction. What does magic, by its very nature, do? Is magic real or just fiction?

 

7. One reviewer of this novel compared it to the old TV show Green Acres. The author says one of her first books, written as a child, was based on Anne of Green Gables. Does this book have anything in common with either of those "green" works?

 

8. The book begins "You can't hurry cheese. It happens in its own time and if that bothers you, you can just feck off." (1). What else in life can't you hurry? What is the purpose of the opening quotations for each chapter?

 

9. Much of this book has to do with finding a place to belong. What is the secret of belonging? Is family or heritage part of belonging? Can you create your own family or are you stuck with the one you were given at birth?

 

10. Although often disguised by humor, symbolism looms large in this story. In other words, what does the cheese represent? What is the connection between the setting and Pregnasaurs? What are some other symbols?

 

11. What do you make of the Pregnasaurs? Why are they in the story at all?

 

12. Corrie and Fee are aging. What "issues" has facing death brought up for them? Do you believe these are universal concerns?

 

13. The book has a happy ending. Is that only possible in fiction? Can real life have happy endings or are there only happy beginnings?

 

14. Do you think this book, underneath the humor, is saying today's mass culture is not a fulfilling way to live? What is the author critical about, in particular, and what does she suggest might be a better alternative for the direction of today's world?