Why We Can't Sleep (Calhoun) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for WHY WE CAN'T SLEEP … then take off on your own:

1. How closely (if at all) do you relate to the central concerns and issues laid out in Calhoun's book? In other words, do you have trouble sleeping through the night? Even though the book is written for Gen Xers, if you're a  Millennial or a Boomer, does Why Can't We Sleep still speak to you?

2. Given the many women Calhoun has interviewed for this book, and their many problems, are there some you find particularly sympathetic? How similar are some of these women's issues to yours? Is the large number of people included in the book helpful or too diverting?

3. Calhoun also includes societal economic data in her work, as well as financial woes at the household level. Is the inclusion of these observations and statistics creditable? Do the facts bolster her argument? Which of her arguments do you find most persuasive… and which less so?

4. The ’70s and ’80s "was a rough time to be a kid," Calhoun writes. "The economy was sinking, crime was spiking, nuclear war was plausible, divorce rates were soaring and helicopter parenting was anomalous. Many of us knew about AIDS long before we had sex, and we watched the Challenger explode on live TV." How much do you recall of that era? Is Calhoun correct—did that time make for a hard childhood?

5. Some of the anecdotes Calhoun recounts are humorous, even if on the dark side. Can you point to a few?

6. Many, if not most, of the women Calhoun includes in her book tend to be "well-educated, middle- and upper-middle-class" women—which might make their problems easy to dismiss, or even to disparage. What do you think? Do their troubles seem serious or trivial to you? Or something in between?

7. What do you think of the advice Calhoun provides, her tips for curing a midlife crisis? Do you agree with her recommendations? Do you have any suggestions of your own to add?

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

top of page (summary)