Vertigo Park And Other Tall Tales by Mark O'Donnell

Author:Mark O'Donnell [O'Donnell, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780307829177
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2013-10-23T04:00:00+00:00

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

1. Where is the story set? Do you think having a setting adds to the story? Where are you set? Defend your answer.

2. Dinah repeatedly complains about the darkness at Seven Birches. Is it really darkness? What does she really mean? Think of examples from real life of someone saying things you can barely understand to show everyone how unhappy and alone they are. Make a list.

3. Who survives the fire Dinah sets, and why? Who flees into the night? What happens to Wobbles? (Hint: Grrrrrr.)

4. Of the three kinds of conflict—Man versus Man, Man versus Nature, and Man versus Himself—which kinds are in evidence here? (Example: When Doctor Luger’s eugenically bred killer ants attack his experimental Ape Maiden, it counts as both Man versus Nature and Man versus Himself—and, arguably, Nature versus Nature.)

5. When Squiffy decides to kick Lars, something unexpected follows. What? Go kick someone larger than yourself and describe what follows. Be specific.

6. What famous character does Brannigan resemble? Consider his miraculous powers at Dinah’s poorly planned party, his death in Crossville, and his surprising resuscitation at Doctor Easter’s clinic. Defend your answer.

7. Discuss the perfectly good reasons someone might have for shooting another person, especially in the unorthodox way Dinah shoots Lars. Make a list of people who are bucking for just such treatment. You may include world figures as well as family members and friends.

8. What is it with Dinah? Be specific.

9. Stories consist of rising action, climax, and denouement. Is this true of life? Why or why not? Is it true of New Year’s Eve? Why or why not?

10. If this story were a pie, what flavor would it be? If it were a pie that happened to be able to speak, what kind of story would that pie be likely to tell? Would it be this story? If it were a pie that could talk but something was terribly wrong, maybe something psychosomatic or a scandal in its past, and it just didn’t, or wouldn’t, talk, what kind of thing might be done to that pie to encourage it or even force it to talk? Think before answering.

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