Imagine Me Gone Discussion Guide: Home
Articles, Interviews, and Reviews
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Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett review – tragedy, loss and transcendenceThe Guardian, June 29, 2016.
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‘Imagine Me Gone,’ by Adam HaslettNYTimes, May 6, 2016.
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Unquiet Minds Make Absorbing Reading In 'Imagine Me Gone'NPR, May 4, 2016.
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Powell’s Q&A: Adam Haslett, Author of Imagine Me GonePowells.com, May 2, 2016.
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Adam Haslett: ‘I think of this book as a love story about a family’The Guardian, June 19, 2016.
Other Works by Adam Haslett
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Union Atlantic by ISBN: 9780385524476 -
You Are Not a Stranger Here by ISBN: 9780385501675
Audio Interview
Discussion Questions
(From Tompkins County Public Library)
1. In one word, how would you describe this book? Why?
2. What did you like about the book? What did you not like? Would you be likely to read more of Adam Haslett’s works?
3. "The hallmark of Haslett’s fiction is his skill at allowing readers to penetrate the barriers that mental instability creates between people and to empathize with character types they might never be able to connect with outside of fiction" (From “Guide to Literary Masters and Their Works”; January 2007, p. 1 in Literary Reference Center). How well (or not) does this quote apply to Imagine Me Gone?
4. John describes his depression as a monster. How would you describe Michael’s mental illness? Compare and contrast the father’s and son’s illnesses.
5. The book is told in a first person point of view from the various members of the family. Discuss how this enhanced the reading. How would have a third person viewpoint changed the reading.
6. Each chapter was told from one family members’ viewpoint. Did you favor one story over another? Which character did you find most engaging.
7. How do the family members support and/or sabotage one another – emotionally or practically? How does the author convey the sense of boundaries or lack of them?
8. In your opinion, does this story (at least in some instances) reflect the experiences of a “typical” family?
Reserve a copy
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Imagine Me Gone by ISBN: 9780316261357
Suggestions for further reading
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Swimming Home by ISBN: 9781620401699Publication Date: 2012-10-16'Swimming Home' is a subversive page-turner, a merciless gaze at the insidious harm that depression can have on apparently stable, well-turned-out people. Set in a summer villa, the story is tautly structured, taking place over a week in which a group of beautiful, flawed tourists in the French Riviera come loose at the seams. -
A Doubter's Almanac by ISBN: 9781400068265;In this mesmerizing novel, Ethan Canin, the author of America America and The Palace Thief, explores the nature of genius, rivalry, ambition, and love among multiple generations of a gifted family. -
The Marriage Plot by ISBN: 9780374203054It's the early 1980s--the country is in a deep recession, and life after college is harder than ever. In the cafés on College Hill, the wised-up kids are inhaling Derrida and listening to Talking Heads. But Madeleine Hanna, dutiful English major, is writing her senior thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, purveyors of the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels. With devastating wit and an abiding understanding of and affection for his characters, Jeffrey Eugenides revives the motivating energies of the Novel, while creating a story so contemporary and fresh that it reads like the intimate journal of our own lives. -
Ordinary People by ISBN: 9780140065176Publication Date: 1982-10-28In Ordinary People, Judith Guest's remarkable first novel, the Jarrets are a typical American family. Calvin is a determined, successful provider and Beth an organized, efficient wife. They had two sons, Conrad and Buck, but now they have one. In this memorable, moving novel, Judith Guest takes the reader into their lives to share their misunderstandings, pain...and ultimate healing.
