The Literature and Language Book Club will meet from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, April 19 in 3N-6 at the Harold Washington Library Center to discuss Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.
Here are some of the discussion questions from the publisher's website to consider as you read this dazzling novel:
- What does the title, Beautiful Ruins, refer to and how does it capture the essence of the novel?
- At the beginning of the story, Pasquale Tursi is waiting "for life to come and find him." Is Dee Moray the "life" he was waiting for? Do you think most people wait for life—like a movie—to begin? Why?
- At the center of the novel, although largely offstage, is the legendary Hollywood production of Cleopatra. How is the movie symbolic of the novel's themes? How does Hollywood both fuel fantasies and destroy dreams? How is this demonstrated in the experiences of the novel's characters?
- In Hollywood, everything happens because of the pitch. Have we become a nation of individuals pitching to each other? How would you pitch your life story to someone? How would you pitch Beautiful Ruins?
