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 Every Last One:
1. As a parent...or a child once in a family...how well does Quindlen capture the dynamics and the nuances of family life? In your view, is the Latham family a typical—or atypical— family?
2. Is Mary Beth believable as a character? What kind of woman is she? What kind of mother... and wife? And the crying jags—"overwhelming and mysterious"—what are they about? Why does she feel lonely?
3. How would you describe Glen Latham? Is there a certain symbolic irony in his being an opthamologist?
4. Talk about Mary Beth and Glen's marriage? Is there still fire? How well does the couple communicate their feelings and fears with one another? How truely intimate are they emotionally? Does Quindlen paint a realistic portrait of a middle-aged marriage...for those of you who are there?
5. Talk about the three Latham children—Ruby and the two boys. Do you care for one more than the others? Are they realistic portrayals of siblings...and teens? What rings true to you...or false...in Quindlen's depiction of them?
6. When Ruby explains chaos theory to her mother—that a butterfly beating its wings in Mexico could result in a breeze in their back yard—what is Mary Beth's reaction...and why? How does chaos theory relate symbolically to the story?
7. Did you see it coming? What were the clues?
8. What might have prevented the tragedy? What might Mary Beth or Glen have done differently? Should they have paid greater attention?
9. Is the tragedy—or the scale of tragedy—necessary to the plot? Or do you feel it's gratuitous—it's purpose only to shock? Could Quindlen have achieved her goal some other way?
10. Talk about the aftermath...the possibility of healing. Is Quindlen's handling of grief honest? What did you come away from this novel having learned about how individuals cope with devastating loss? Can one gain something during loss?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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