My Fluorescent God (Guppy) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
1. The 23-year-old Joe Guppy was clearly in an unstable state even before the prescribed stomach medications triggered his toxic psychosis. Has there ever been a moment or period in time when you felt like you were losing your mind? If so, what brought you back?

2. A friend of Joe Guppy's once pointed out to him that he (Joe) was convinced his perceptions of Dr. Hardaway as Satan and his fear of demons were delusions… but that Joe considered his mystical encounter with God as real. Joe addresses this question on page 196 of My Fluorescent God, but how might you explain it?

3. Does it surprise you that the author is an award-winning comedy writer? Were there parts of the book that you found funny? If so, which scenes, and why?

4. When Joe was in the high-security room, he describes the walls—and even the floor—as being covered in dark red medium-pile carpet. When you read that, did you think this was just part of Joe’s hallucination of Hell? Were you surprised to find out in the Dialogues in Part III that this was real—an actual soundproofing attempt? Was there anything else about the conversations in the Dialogues that informed or enhanced your reading of Joe’s story?

5. Part of the reason Joe Guppy was motivated to write My Fluorescent God was to express how important the "talking cure" was in his struggle to regain his sanity…not shock treatment, not drugs, but talking with professionals who connected with him and who cared about him. Has there ever been a time of crisis for you that talking with others helped you get through?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)

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