The House of Tomorrow Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, R. Buckminster Fuller: Inventor, Architect, Futurist and our BookBrowse Review of The House of Tomorrow.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Introduction

Sebastian Prendergast lives with his eccentric grandmother in a geodesic dome. His homeschooling has taught him much—but he's learned little about girls, junk food, or loud, angry music.

Then fate casts Sebastian out of the dome, and he finds a different kind of tutor in Jared Whitcomb: a chain-smoking sixteen-year-old heart transplant recipient who teaches him the ways of rebellion. Together they form a punk band and plan to take the local church talent show by storm. But when his grandmother calls him back to the futurist life she has planned for him, he must decide whether to answer the call—or start a future of his own.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think Nana is brainwashed with Fuller's idealist lifestyle, or does she really believe it? Why do you think she finds it better to keep Sebastian sequestered at the dome than allow him to interact with the outside world regularly?


2. Discuss how Fuller's hypothesis about living in chapter 3, where he states "we have to figure it all out by ourselves and that is some incredibly grueling work." Do you believe this foreshadows what happens with Sebastian when he must forge out on his own?


3. Nana tells Sebastian that his path is like Fuller's, to teach people to be free. Why do you think Nana still believes that Fuller's utopian future will come to fruition?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Berkley Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.