Woke Up Lonely Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Belief Systems Similar to the Helix and our BookBrowse Review of Woke Up Lonely.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. While Esme believes abstractly in Thurlow's ideas, she has a hard time buying the healing powers of the Helix: "Loneliness was a pandemic...Thurlow had that right. It was the rest Esme couldn't get behind. Fellowship among strangers as antidote to a life's worth of estrangement?" (page 29). Do you agree or disagree with Esme? Do you think that Thurlow's philosophy is good and it's his practice that's flawed?
2. Ned posts to an online forum that "the thing about Luke is that he's able to do what no other Jedi has so far: he can feel love without turning evil" (page 55). Replace the word "Jedi" with "human being" and think about it. How many characters in Woke Up Lonely do terrible and selfish things for someone they claim to love? Do you think self-interest is ultimately the pandemic, not loneliness?
3. When talking to Lynne, who is actually Esme in disguise, Bruce reveals that, "I'm terrified [my job at the Department] marks the end of a period in my life when I tried to do something that mattered. I don't know who I am anymore. I am estranged from myself. Isn't that ridiculous?" (page 88). How are Bruce's thoughts ironic given his feelings towards the Helix?

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