Discussion Questions
We'll add questions by the publisher if and when they're made available. In the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to start a discussion for Good on Paper...and then take off on your own...
1. Translation as a motif undergirds this novel. What does it mean to translate—is it simply a matter of exchanging a word in one language for a word in another? Or is it something else? How does the act of translating function as a metaphor for living one's life; in particular, how should Shira translate the events and people in her own life?
2. How has Shira's past, especially her mother's abandonment, shaped her life?
3. Follow-up to Question 2: What kind of mother is Shira: what is her relationship with Andi and how does it change during the course of the novel? Is Ahmed justified in his criticism of Shira's mothering when her life begins to spiral out of control?
4. Wordplay is a prominent element in Good on Paper. Find some examples—Andi's Topeka/Eureka or, say, change is afoot/footwear prefrences (p. 59). Other than sheer fun, what might the author be suggesting about the ways we communicate and comprehend one another?
5. Romei asks Shira whether she believes in the possibility of new life. Do you agree with Shira or Dante in the passage below?
Dante believes we choose new life: if we're ready to walk the straight and narrow, we can leave our old life behind and achieve salvation. I don't think so. People get sick, they win the lottery. But they don't change.
What do you think: is new life possible—do we get second chances in life; are we capable of change?
6. Benny says to Shira at one point:
Exile is our [the Jews'] defining metaphor.... We do small acts of repair, we try to fix the brokeness, but our exile never ends, not until we are collectively redeemed at the End of Days.... [But] for all Christians, I suppose, individual pilgrimage is the defining metaphor explaining our life's journey...the straight-line narrative to salvation.
Would you agree that the metaphors of exile and pilgrimage explain some of the differences between Judaism and Christianity? Does either metaphor—or any others—define your life journey?
7. Talk about Ahmed. Talk about Benny.
8. Why doesn't Shira believe in forgiveness? Who does she need to forgive? Does that change during the course of the novel? Do you believe in forgiveness? Or do you think that what Shira says below makes sense?
[W]hat can forgiveness possibly mean? You pretend a thing didn't happen? You acknowledged that it happened but pretend it doesn't matter? If it matters, then forgiveness by definition isn't possible. If it doesn't matter, what's to forgive?
9. What is the vision of love that comes out of Good on Paper? What does Shira come to learn about the people in her life, how to love them, and how to feel loved in return?
10. SPOILER ALERT: At what point did you "figure it out"? Or were you taken by suprise?
(Questions by LitLoves. Feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)