Book Club Discussion Questions for Heart in the Right Place by Carolyn Jourdan

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Heart in the Right Place.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Reading Group Guide

Public Service Quiz

What is of greater service to the American people:

1. Riding on a nuclear submarine, pretending to sink ships and wipe out major cities by firing torpedoes and intercontinental ballistic missiles?
2. Wiping up barf when you're the only person with access to the paper towels and mop.
3. Riding in a Lear jet
4. Watching rich people try to ride a horse
5. Getting on C-Span wearing really expensive clothes
6. Standing in your yard wearing $19 scrubs and petting your dog

First Aid Quiz

1. What do you do when someone is electrocuted in an isolated area and one of you just sharpened your pocket knife?
2. How do you remove a cast if it's getting on your nerves?
3. What happens if you sew yourself up with embroidery thread?
   a. Should you wash the cut before sewing it up?
4. What is the correct tool to use to remove a splinter?
5. What do you do for a severed jugular vein?
6. What do you do if four enemas do not seem to be working?

Medicare Coverage Quiz

1. Does Medicare cover guillotine-related claims?
   a. List one possible post-legal-execution-by-beheading claim.
2. Does Medicare cover spacecraft accident-related claims?
   a. Does Medicare cover claims related to spacecraft launching pad accidents?
   b. Does Medicare cover claims related to weightlessness aboard spacecraft?
3. Does Medicare cover
   a. "Spoiled Child"
   b. "Spring Fever"
   c. "Quarrelsomeness"
   d. "Clumsiness"
   e. "Double Whammy"
4. Does Medicare have provisions for "stubbed toe"?
5. Does Medicare have provisions for "sore finger"?

Test Your Knowledge of Smoky Mountain Dialect

1. What is "worshing out feet"?
2. What is an "escape goat"?
3. What is "the punies."
4. Extra Bonus Question: Who had the punies?

General Questions

1. What type of animal was named "Forrest Gump"?
2. Why pour ice water into a sick person's ear?
3. If a sick person is chatting with you, should you ask them before terminating their life support?

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