<p>^^^ I agree that people make the difference. However, since Marian knows nothing of the people, I think the natural assumption would be that owners of a bookstore love books. She acts on generalization. Yes, the right type of shoe store owner might have made a fantastic parent but how can she tell from the shoe store alone whether or not she drops her child with a reader. Odds are more in her favor at a bookstore. Not saying it’s the best thing to do … certainly Daniel, as an author, is in the literary world and I can’t wrap my mind around him as a father.</p>
<p>I have a friend who owns a bookstore - they live off her husbands income. 
But I do see bookstores that seem to thrive especially in small towns. I think she did portray the fact that bookstores have to branch out into providing more than books - author talks, book groups maybe even a cafe was actually quite realistic. (In fact my friend recently opened a tea shop next door to her bookshop!)</p>
<p>Now that I look back, I am more impressed with the authors skill. </p>
<p>Thanks to all who pointed this out! Initially I found the book a little bit cutesy and predictable, and yes, NJTheatreMOM, romanticizing of bookstores. It hadn’t occurred to me that this was all intentional, but I like the book more assuming that it was.</p>
<p>As for “the natural assumption would be that owners of a bookstore love books,” that wasn’t true in Dahl’s “The Bookseller”! Marian got lucky with A.J., but she could have just placed Maya for adoption. That might have made more sense than wading into the ocean–but then there wouldn’t have been any book.</p>
<p>Very funny that A Good Man-darin Is Hard to Find is an actual nail polish color. The things I learn in this book group!</p>
<p>What kind of name is Ismay? I don’t remember any mention that it was short for something.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good point about “The Bookseller.” What a great story that was!</p>
<p>Ismay’s name sounds like pig latin to me.</p>
<p>I think it’s a horrible made up spelling of Esme. (Can you tell I am a name snob?) :D</p>
<p>Yes, why the name Ismay? </p>
<p>Also, regarding names, is there a connection between, Maya’s mother Marian " **Wallace" and the author David Foster “Wallace”, **who was, also, deeply disturbed and committed suicide. </p>
<p>I haven’t read " Infinite Jest", but it must have some significance, because it was mentioned twice in the book, early in the story, and later when the rebellious teenage boy wanted to read it, and he was given two weeks to read it.
Perhaps someone has tackled this formidable book, and can explain why Zevin selected this "book "to highlight, in her "book about books! "</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I just stumbled across the fact that there is an Esme in the wildly popular YA vampire series Twilight. Yikes. </p>
<p>Ismay is the last name of a rather infamous survivor of the Titanic - the owner of White Star Lines. <a href=“J. Bruce Ismay - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Bruce_Ismay</a> Our Ismay is also a survivor and also not exactly blameless in her actions.</p>
<p>I got dh to read Infinite Jest, but then just couldn’t face it myself though he gave me periodic reports as he was reading it. I just know it’s not my type of book, though I would like to try it some day. (It’s not his type of book either, but he reads much faster than I do.)</p>
<p>I haven’t read Roald Dahl’s “The Bookseller” yet. I have to pick it up at the library (and I’m still working my way through the short stories you can find online). I can add another “The Fall of the House of Usher” - E.A. Poe. A.J. mentions the title as his specialty when he talks with the social worker.
</p>
<p>I also thought the name Ismay probably bastardized Esme. And yes, I thought of Esme in Twilight. Actually, A.J. thinks of his wife and Twilight at the end of the first chapter. She liked the book and had planned a book party to go with the book (prom dresses!)</p>
<p>I haven’t yet read “The Bookseller” either. I’ll have to look for Dahl’s stories.</p>
<p>NJTM, I too thought Ismay sounded like pig latin, for a name close to Maya. </p>
<p>I wish we had an independent bookstore close to us. We have only the big box stores, and even they are fighting for business. With the focus on the extras of food, toys, and gifts, the inventory of books beyond big name classics, basic non-fiction, and popular fiction has grown smaller and smaller. I do love the library, though. I think I’ve said this before, but they have a home delivery service that at no extra charge, will deliver books we can order from any of our county’s branches, to the front door. </p>
<p>Interesting about the Esmes in Twilight and on the Titanic!</p>
<p>There’s also “For Esme–with Love and Squalor,” which is in Salinger’s Nine Stories along with “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.” It’s about an American soldier’s meeting with a young girl in England during WWII. (And Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events features a character named Esmé Squalor.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think you mean cantankerous curmudgeon ;). The novel does romanticize bookstores – and also orphans and islands and warm-hearted police officers. Even brain tumors come off as a pretty good way to go. But I was fine with that. That’s the style of the novel and it’s consistent from beginning to end. I enjoyed imagining, if only for a little while, that life and death could be so gratifying. If I put myself on a steady diet of, let’s say, The Road, I’d go nuts. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Exactly what I was thinking—Maya could have ended up with Mr. Buggage! </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This comes up in a discussion question:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t have an answer to that. Any ideas? Here’s a nice summary of vampires in folklore and literature: <a href=“http://www.rofmag.com/folkroots/vampires-in-folklore-and-literature/”>http://www.rofmag.com/folkroots/vampires-in-folklore-and-literature/</a></p>
<p>(On the subject of names, I thought Amelia’s last name—Loman—might be a nod to Willy Loman from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.)</p>
<p>Gosh I didn’t even notice the name Loman. Death of a Salesman is probably my least favorite play of all time, though I’ve never actually seen it, just loathed it sophomore year in high school English class. I do remember trying to persuade myself that I should go see Dustin Hoffman in it - great reviews! But I didn’t. (I did go see The Glass Menagerie which I also read that year and didn’t like much better. It was probably as good as it could be, but really, I still didn’t like it.)</p>
<p>Interesting about all the vampire connections. I pretty much blew them off. I love Buffy and Robin McKinley’s Sunshine, but generally as a genre it leaves me cold.</p>
<p>I think the vampire references in the novel were a way of acknowledging their popularity and giving a teasing wink to the people who enjoy vampire-themed books, shows and films. </p>
<p>I’ve never watched “True Blood” or read much in the way of vampire literature but I must admit I’m looking forward to seeing the film “Only Lovers Left Alive” with Tom Hiddleston <swoon!> and Tilda Swinton as vampires.</swoon!></p>
<p>And I liked the Swedish film “Let the Right One In,” about a young girl who was a vampire. There was a Hollywood remake, but it wasn’t as good.</p>
<p>^^^ I agree that the vampire references are just a nod to popularity. I read Twilight and the next in that series but never finished. I read the first five books or so in the True Blood series but never finished. (Detecting a pattern here?) I never saw the HBO series. I also read the first two books in Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy. The last in the trilogy The Book of Life comes out in July. I should probably reread the first two books but each one is almost 600 pages. @-) I listened to the first one on audio, instead of rereading it, before tackling the second. (Twenty hours but the reader is really good.) Hmm, decisions, decisions. :-< </p>
<p>I’m still working my way through the short stories. I found “Brownies” by ZZ Packer online - text and also an author reading (Story Hour in the Library - UC Berkeley). I haven’t watched (or read) yet - it looks longer than most of the short stories so far. I’ll get to it later. (I’m stuck at home today while we get our air conditioner replaced.)</p>
<p>Anyway - here are the links for “Brownies”:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.qcounty.com/SCC/Fall10/Eng2_80232/Readings/ZZPacker--Brownies.pdf”>http://www.qcounty.com/SCC/Fall10/Eng2_80232/Readings/ZZPacker--Brownies.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href=“Story Hour in the Library - ZZ Packer - YouTube”>Story Hour in the Library - ZZ Packer - YouTube; </p>
<p>^ Thanks, ignatius. I’ll be away from the computer all day (seeing Les Mis this afternoon, among other fun things!), but will check in later. </p>
<p>Since we’re talking about short stories, maybe we can discuss Maya’s.</p>
<p>A.J. reflects that Maya’s story reminds him of A Perfect Day for Bananafish. Reader’s Guide author Kathryn Cope notes, “Both Maya and Salinger tell a shocking story in a straightforward and understated style. As in Bananafish, the characters Mary interacts with before her suicide are oblivious to her desperation. At the conclusion of the stories, both Seymour and Mary end up taking their own lives with very little fuss.”</p>
<p>The ending of Maya’s story is also very similar to Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, which Ismay thinks about while contemplating taking her own life in a similar way: </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Related discussion questions on the topic:</p>
<p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Maya doesn’t know who her father was, or Ismay’s involvement in her mother’s suicide. How much of the backstory was she even told? Amelia says, "
. </p>
<p>Although her background information is pretty limited, I think Maya does a good job in getting to the root of the suicide. Maya interprets her mother’s suicide on “giving up” and says, “she screwed everything up” (pg. 177). In her story, Maya assigns blame for her mother’s failure on a lack of income and no support (emotional or financial) from her broken family. While she doesn’t know about Daniel, I think Maya would also suppose that her father wanted nothing to do with her or her mother. This life without help and urgent need of money seems corroborated by Ismay’s story. </p>
<p>I liked that in the story, Maya thinks of her mother as honest–she’s going to pay the babysitter even if it’s with her last dime. In real life, Marian shows doesn’t sell Tamerlane and even asks if it’s “hot” when she receives it from Ismay. Ismay’s version fills out some of the details about Marian’s desperation and her honesty.</p>
<p>One part of Maya’s story I found amusing and touching together was when Mary went to the bookstore, and the “slightly less grumpy” owner asks about Mary’s book preferences, and she replies,
To me, Maya somehow captures her father’s cranky but kind and knowing nature well in this short exchange.</p>
<p>I read the two Z.Z.Packer stories. I liked “Brownies” best. Packer is apparently quite a well-regarded author, though I hadn’t heard of her before. </p>
<p>“Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” was intense…not a story that I’m likely to forget any time soon. I’ve heard it said that good art is supposed to take you out of your comfort zone, and the story definitely accomplished that!</p>
<p>I think both the ZZ Packer stories took me out of my comfort zone. From what we can tell, Maya seems to have been spared any overt racism. She doesn’t seem damaged like the characters in these stories. Where are the ZZ Packer stories referenced in the book?</p>
<p>Maya’s mother’s suicide reminded me much more of The Awakening which I read a million years ago as part of a woman’s history class, barely remember it, but while I think all suicides hurt the surviving family, at least this way didn’t seem deliberately mean. Seymore’s wife may have been clueless and shallow, but no way she deserved waking up to a horrific suicide. I can’t even begin to say how much I despise that story!</p>
<p>The ZZ Packer stories were suggested by A.J. to Maya in Part II, “A Conversation with My Father,” when she’s working on her story.</p>
<p>Regarding this section in Maya’s story:
- Oh, all kinds, but my favorite kind of book is the kind where a character has hardships but overcomes them in the end. I know life isn’t like that. Maybe that is why it is my favorite thing." …"The bookseller says that he has the perfect thing for her, but by the time he gets back, Mary is gone. “Miss?”.*</p>
<p>I wonder what book A. J. would have suggested? A library patron once asked me for biography suggestions where the person has hardships but overcomes them in the end. That’s most of them, I think!</p>