Pink Slime Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Ultra-Processed Foods and our BookBrowse Review of Pink Slime.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. In the beginning, the narrator observes: "The squatters kept the sign lit, but not out of laziness or nostalgia. They did it to remind themselves they were alive. That they could still do something arbitrary, something purely aesthetic" (page 2). What other things, commonplace as they may seem to us, have become anachronistic luxuries in this dystopian future? What other choices, innocuous as they may be, do various characters make throughout the novel to assert their ongoing humanity in a period of unprecedented instability?
2. With hindsight, the narrator is able to see the vast differences between herself and her ex-husband, Max. For example, on a philosophical level, Max believes that "a person's will [is] independent from their body," (pages 4–5) leading him to attempt to "separate himself from his body, that indomitable desire-generating machine, which knew neither conscience nor limits" (page 5). The narrator feels differently but stops short of stating her own philosophy about human will and its relationship to the body. How would you characterize the narrator's orientation to this question? Does she seem to have one? What other moments throughout the novel might help you answer this question?
3. At the beginning of each chapter is an imaginary dialogue. How did these dialogues affect your experience of the novel, specifically the chapters that they preceded? What function do they serve? As you were reading, how did you feel that these dialogues spoke to each other across chapters?

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