Print these questions and use them to lead a discussion
about Candy from Strangers. (Alternatively, you may download
this pdf file with
the same content.)
1. "A straight, curmudgeonly private eye and a gay—and
chronically unemployed—computer
engineer"
This is how private eye August Riordan characterizes himself
and cross-dressing crooner Chris Duckworth in the first chapter
of the book.
Theirs is an unlikely friendship. How do they
compliment each other? Where do they butt heads?
2. “You’re making me feel like a bad mother.”
Ellen Stockwell seems to have made mistakes in dealing with her
daughter Caroline and her disappearance. Are they understandable
given the situation in the household, or are there things she should
have
done differently, regardless of the circumstances?
3. “My parents haven’t cared what I did since I got
my belly button pierced. ”
Is it unsafe or improper for young women to put up a web site like
Caroline’s and her friend Monica’s? If you had a daughter
their age (18) would you condone posting of content like Monica’s?
Caroline’s? Is the content Caroline has on her pages any different
than what you might typically see on the pages of a social networking
site?
4. “What you need is a baggy, floor-length housecoat from
Sears Roebuck. ”
Monica goes out of her way to tease and entice Riordan, and Beth,
the guru’s ex-disciple is clearly attracted to him, but he is only
interested in one women in the book. Why does he choose her? What is
the basis of the attraction between the two of them? Given the circumstances,
are they wrong to get involved?
5. “And by the way, if you like the thong, you can bid on
it tonight on eBay. ”
Monica is a tease, manipulative, is covetous of the finer things
in life, but is still loyal in some ways to photography instructor
Robert Wesson and to her friend Caroline. Is she truly a bad person?
Or does
she have some redeeming qualities?
6. “I dreamed I was in a all-night diner eating a solitary
meal when the rest of my teeth fell out.”
What significance does Riordan’s dream with Monica have? Does
it influence your opinion of Monica in any way?
7. “Me and my crippled legs paid for the house. With the settlement
I got from the automobile accident.”
Beth has endured many hardships in life, including being
taken advantage of by guru Sri Atma Nidhi, yet in the end seems
to have to have coped remarkably well. Of all the women in the
book, would you say
she has the most stature? If not, who does?
8. “You, Riordan. Junior G-Man on a pogo stick.”
Riordan and Lieutenant Stockwell spar throughout the book—both
physically and verbally. At bottom, do you think they have a grudging
respect for each other? Why or why not?
9. “What we are talking about, in effect, is the objectification
of women. To create a something out of a someone.”
Riordan and Odile, the French psychiatrist, share a theory that
Caroline’s kidnapper may know her from another context, but has
become emboldened to act as a result of seeing her posed in fetishistic
pictures on the web. Do you agree that the real danger of young women
having web sites like Caroline and Monica’s may come from the people
they already know, rather than strangers who find them on the Internet?
10. “He visited her the same night Riordan did.”
The kidnapper visits Caroline in the hospital one night and asks
her to do something. She agrees. Why do you think she does?
11. “What this whole thing has been about.”
What is the ultimate motivation for the kidnapper to commit the
crimes he or she does? Do you agree with Lieutenant Stockwell’s
assessment at the art college?
12. “I've been waiting a long time for a fresh look at the private
eye story. Mark Coggins has delivered it here.” –Michael
Connelly; “Coggins recreates the private eye novel from scratch.” –Joe
Gores
In their comments about Candy from Strangers, Connelly
and Gores suggest that the book in some sense freshens or reinvents
private eye writing. How is the book different than the typical
PI story, and
how are
Riordan and Duckworth different than the typical PI and partner?
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