Something on the Side (Weber)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Something on the Side:

1. Of the five main characters—Nikki, Coco, Tammy, Isis, and Egypt, whom did you enjoy or sympathize with most? Which of the women annoyed you most? Do the women seem to represent prototypes?

2. Perhaps of all the women, Nikki seems to learn something by the end of the book. What does she come to understand?

3. Um...what was Tammy thinking? Good idea...or not so good?

4. Is this book simply for entertainment's sake...or do you feel it offers a genuine portrayal of women's lives? Or try this question: can a man write realistically about women? Does Weber?

5. How do the women handle their "plus" size? Does being large mean being miserable? Can big women have big lives?

6. Do you like how Weber switched points of view for each chapter? Why might he have structured the book as he did? Did you find the differing points of view absorbing or off-putting?

7. Was the ending predictable or surprising?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

top of page