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About B. Monk |
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Reading Group Guide Now You See It…Stories from Cokesville, PA DESCRIPTION: Now You See It…is a compelling and magical tale about leaving home—told in seventeen interconnected short stories spanning forty years (1949-1994). Home in this case is the town of Cokesville, PA, a town whose inhabitants mine coal and make steel. Like most small towns, Cokesville inspires gratitude in some for the opportunity it gives them to make a living. But in others, especially Annie Kusiak and Theresa Gojuk, it inspires only a fierce desire to escape. The stories can be read and appreciated individually. Each story examines the nature of love and self-discovery, and its main character is startled at the end by some new-found facet of him or her self. Or the stories can be read as a novel in which the protagonists, Annie and Theresa, navigate the rocky emotional terrain of what “home” means. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. In “Small Fry,” Annie and Theresa are trying to find their professional wings. What real and/or imagined obstacles have kept them, so far, from realizing their place in the world? How does Theresa feel about the baby she is carrying? 2. Do you think Theodore, in “Hocus Pocus,” really intended to disappear in the magic act? Is money the real issue to Theodore? Felix loves Theodore, but does Theodore love Felix? 3. Discuss the motif of flying in “Flying Lesson.” Who manages to fly and who gets grounded? 4. The slam book that Annie is hiding in “Slam Book” is a way for teenagers to monitor and censor each others’ behavior. How do the slam book’s entries motivate the story’s young characters? 5. In “Congratulations, Goldie Katowitz,” Annie is a teenager trying to figure out what to do with her life, because it seems to her that the conventional options of job, college, and marriage, are either undesirable or out of her reach. What role does her suddenly reappearing grandfather, Theodore, play in her life at this point? 6. What does Mrs. Szilborski discover about herself in “Little Yellow Dogs”? Should Mrs. Wojik have known better than to tell Mrs. Szilborski about Mr. Szilborski’s joke about being reincarnated as a dog? Does grief make you lose your inhibitions? 7. In “Annie Kusiak’s Meaning of Life,” does Annie discover the meaning of her life? Is Annie’s Babba wise or is she just crazy? Is Rabbi White right about life when he says: “I don’t have the answers. I only have the questions.” 9. Who rescues Mrs. Szewczak in “Mrs. Szewczak and the Rescue Dog”? What does she need saving from? 10. Discuss the implications of taking another person’s life—whether illegally or legally—in “Do Not Revive.” 11. In “Last Call,” Margaret Gojuk is trying to find her place in a dying town with a dying mother who loves her sister more than she loves her. Why doesn’t Margaret just leave? 12. In “Mrs. Herbinko’s Birthday Party,” Mrs. Herbinko finds out she was praying for the wrong man. Was she fickle to get interested in the “new” Mr. Herbinko? 13. Milos Gojuk feels obsolete in “The Great Wall,” when he has to interview his probable replacement. How does Ms. Mohandes feel about replacing him? 14. What does Annie Kusiak find out about her parents, her brother, and herself in “Writing Lesson”? 15. Do you think Monica’s life, in “Pieces of Paper,” would have been better or worse if she had known her father? She fell in love with Jack when she was looking for her father. Do you think she would have fallen in love with him if she had met him in different circumstances? 16. In “Now You Don’t,” do you think Annie is going to stay married to her Texas oilman now that she’s realized what her purpose in life is? Do you think people are happier when they try to maintain a close physical tie to their past, or do you think they are happier when they create a new life for themselves? 17. In “Excellent Sperm,” do you see any similarities between Theodore Cheslock, the protagonist of “Hocus Pocus” and Nick Minarekov?
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©Copyright 2006 Bathsheba Monk Hosted by: Limit55.com |
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