Author Asks

1) What seems to be the author’s motivation for writing this book?


2) Is the longing for "roots" a value specific to the authors generation, or is it an ongoing urge for younger people too?


3) How are family tales passed down in your particular family? Discuss reasons for silence or obfuscation as seen in the author's life, and in your own experience.


4) How does the culture of your ancestors influence present family dynamics and personal sensibility?


5) How does the culture of one's time influence family dynamics and personal sensibility?


6) What do you think about "facts" and their reliability after reading this book? Does it change your thinking about how to define what's "true"? And how reliable is memory?


7) Describe how the father is characterized in the first section of the book. How do details about his job correspond to his character?


8) Do you think the authors also being a poet in addition to a nonfiction writer shaped the style of this book? If yes, can you point to particular poetic techniques?


9) Discuss the role of the section titles and any patterns you see in titles that are repeated throughout the book.


10) Think about the role of the quotations in the book. Do they serve to advance the narrative? Why do you think they are isolated under separate titles rather than integrated into the narrative?


11) What's the effect of particular words and images being repeated?


12) What structural devices can you identify that contribute to binding all the short sections into a whole?