Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Shopgirl:
1. How would you describe Mirabelle? What is she like? At what stage is she in her life? How is her job, selling gloves—"things that nobody buys anymore"—suitably ironic for her?
2. What is Jeremy like? How would you describe him? Were you rooting for him (or not) as a potential boyfriend?
3. What draws Mirabella and Jeremy together if, as the narrator says, "at this stage of their lives, in true and total fact, they only thing they have in common is a Laundromat"?
4. Is Ray Porter a good man...or not? How would you describe him?
5. Ray is honest about what he wants—that "he can have [Mirabelle] without obligation." Ray believes that "they will both see the benefits they are receiving" from one another. Can a good relationship be built on such an understanding?
6. Mirabelle and Ray have The Conversation; afterwards both take away different versions—he believes Mirabelle understands his intent of seeing other women; she believes Ray "is bordering on falling in love with her." How does that difference in understanding occur? Has it ever happened to you?
7. What was your feeling when Mirabelle became involved with Ray? If she had asked your advice, what would you have said?
8. Does Mirabelle love Ray? Or does she love the idea of Ray—his wealth, his paternal protection?
9. How does Ray feel toward Mirabelle? Do his feelings ever change?
10. This is a classic love triangle: older man, younger woman, and younger man. Yet Martin presents something different. Can you put your finger on what it is?
11. When you first read the book, were you surprised or disappointed that it wasn't funnier? Were you expecting a humorous book from a former stand-up comic?
12. Follow-up to Question 10: Even though this isn't an uproariously funny book, there is still a good deal of humor. Find a few of your favorite lines and read them out loud.
13. Lisa is one of the funniest characters in the book. Do you find her so? Why does she set up the competition with Mirabelle?
14. Was Jeremy's transformation believable? Do your feelings about Jeremy change?
15. How does Martin paint the L.A. scene—the things people are looking for, aspiring to? In what way might the novella be described as a gentle satire?
16. Is the ending satisfying? Or were you hoping for another outcome?
17. Watch the movie. How do film and book compare? Which do you prefer?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)