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 Nine Lives:
1. Which of Baum's nine characters do you most relate to...and least relate to? What does each character reveal about the city of New Orleans—in terms of its culture and socio-economics?
2. How would you describe New Orleans? What is the portrait of the city—before Katrina—that comes through in Baum's book? His coverage goes back to 1965: how did the city change over those 40 years (up to and before Katrina)? What part of New Orleans and its history do you find most appealing...fascinating...or disturbing?
3. If you've ever traveled to New Orleans...or lived there...or still live there, talk about your experiences—about the city you know and love...or know and hate!
4. Talk about the ways in which each of the nine characters experienced—and was changed by—Katrina. How did Katrina reveal the inner strengths and/or weaknesses of the nine lives?
5. Baum covered New Orleans as a journalist during and post Katrina. Why did he depart from his journalism and decide to write this book? What did he believe a book could reveal that his articles and essays could not?
6. What were your reactions reading this book? What most horrified you about Katrina? What surprised you? And what have you learned from Nine Lives?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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