The Parking Lot Attendant Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Cults and Cult Leaders in Contemporary Literature and our BookBrowse Review of The Parking Lot Attendant.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

A haunting story of fatherhood, national identity, and what it means to be an immigrant in America today, Nafkote Tamirat's The Parking Lot Attendant explores how who we love, the choices we make, and the places we're from combine to make us who we are. The story begins on an undisclosed island where the unnamed narrator and her father are the two newest and least liked members of a commune that has taken up residence there. Though the commune was built on utopian principles, it quickly becomes clear that life here is not as harmonious as the founders intended. After immersing us in life on the island, our young heroine takes us back to Boston to recount the events that brought her here. Though she and her father belong to a wide Ethiopian network in the city, they mostly keep to themselves, which is how her father prefers it.

This detached existence only makes Ayale's arrival on the scene more intoxicating. The unofficial king of Boston's Ethiopian community, Ayale is a born hustler—when he turns his attention to the narrator, she feels seen for the first time. Ostensibly a parking lot attendant, Ayale soon proves to have other projects in the works, which the narrator becomes more and more entangled in to her father's growing dismay. By the time the scope of Ayale's schemes—and their repercussions—become apparent, our narrator has unwittingly become complicit in something much bigger and darker than she ever imagined.


Discussion Questions for The Parking Lot Attendant

1. The protagonist remains nameless throughout the novel, despite the fact that she's told she has "an important name." Consider how this choice impacted how you related to the narrator. Why might the author have decided not to assign a name to the central character?
2. Early in the novel, the narrator notes: "Since meeting Ayale, I, too, have used Ethiopia and my Ethiopianness to measure my worth, to feel that I had proof of being different from or better than others." How do you interpret this statement? What examples do you see of the protagonist using her Ethiopian identity in this manner?
3. Reflecting on Ayale, the narrator notes: "Sometimes, however, the best people are the worst for us to love." How do you see this notion play out in the relationship between the protagonist and Ayale? How about with her parents?

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