Life Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, The Cuban Missile Crisis and our BookBrowse Review of Life.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. While Clem is the main character in the book, with the majority of the novel related from his point of view, large sections of the story are also given over to histories of his father, George, his mother Ruth, and his grandmother Winn. Why do you think Peet has chosen to include their stories? How important is family history in shaping a character's identity? In what ways has Clem been shaped by the experiences of his family?
2. "It's not easy keeping history in line. Herding cats by fog is easy by comparison." Peet uses a non-chronological narrative structure, which shifts back and forth between the past and present. Why do you think Peet has chosen to use this structure? Think particularly about its role in creating suspense and highlighting the impact of history on the present on both a personal and political level. How does this non-chronological structure relate to the subtitle of the book?
3. "Fidel Castro would make a significant contribution to twentieth-century history and to Clem Ackroyd's yet-undreamed-of loss of virginity." The political and the personal are shown as inextricably connected in the novel. What examples can you find to support this? What significance might Clem's name have in terms of illustrating this intersection between the political and the personal?

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