Me: Elton John Official Biography
Elton John, 2019
Henry Holt Co.
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250147608
Summary
In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, from his rollercoaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman, to becoming a living legend.
Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of twenty-three he was performing his first gig in America, facing an astonished audience in his bright yellow dungarees, a star-spangled T-shirt, and boots with wings.
Elton John had arrived and the music world would never be the same again.
His life has been full of drama…
• From the early rejection of his work with song-writing partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar…
• From half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth…
• From friendships with John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, and George Michael to setting up his AIDS Foundation and conquering Broadway with Aida, The Lion King, and Billy Elliot the Musical.
All the while Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade.
In Me, Elton also writes powerfully about getting clean and changing his life, about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father.
In a voice that is warm, humble, and open, this is Elton on his music and his relationships, his passions and his mistakes. This is a story that will stay with you by a living legend. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—March 25, 1947
• Where—Pinner, Middlesex, England, UK
• Education—N/A
• Awards—Musical (see below)
• Currently—lives in London, England
Sir Elton John, CBE, is a multi-award winning solo artist who has achieved 38 gold and 31 platinum or multi-platinum albums, has sold more than 300 million records worldwide, and holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time, "Candle in the Wind 1997."
In August 2018 Elton was named the most successful male solo artist in the Billboard Hot 100 chart history, having logged 67 entries, including nine Number 1s and 27 Top 10s. Elton launched his first tour in 1970 and since then has performed over 4,000 times in more than 80 countries.
When not recording or touring, Elton devotes his time to a number of charities, including his own Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised over $300 million and funded programmes across four continents in the twenty-four years it has existed. He is married to David Furnish, and they have two sons.
Me is his first and only official autobiography. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[Me] pushes the envelope.… The movie Rocketman gave a reasonably accurate overview of the Elton John story—but it barely scratched the surface of what’s in this memoir. The lurid parts will get all the headlines. But [it is really about] the man’s hard-won self-knowledge.
New York Times
Thought you got all of Elton John's story in the rollicking biopic, Rocketman? Well, consider that merely a tasty appetizer ahead of this ultra-rich and heavy dinner.
NBC News
Magnificent…. While Me is as colorful as you’d expect from an artist famous for his outlandish stage costumes and outsize temper tantrums, it is also so much more…. Fans who think seeing Rocketman was enough and can "eventually" read his memoir, we can tell you: do not wait a long, long time. Me is a riveting, laugh-til-you-cry, heartfelt page-turner.
Entertainment Weekly
[Elton] proves himself an engrossing, fluid and alarmingly forthcoming writer…. Like [his] songs, Me overflows with whimsical characters, twisted humor, winking self-aggrandizement and stark pathos…. An absorbing and unfettered joy.
Time
By turn hilarious, touching, and surprising…. In between the countless anecdotes with stars from across the decades, John’s enthusiasm for music continues to shine through…. It's wonderful to read [and] compelling evidence that Elton John was born to be [a star].
Independent (UK)
Outrageously enjoyable…. [Elton] is utterly, astonishingly, hilariously self-lacerating…. His clear-eyed honesty and his ear for the comic line make him a deeply appealing memoirist.
Guardian (UK)
Excellent…. [Me] mines a rich seam of salacious and self-deprecating anecdote, heady scandal, personal struggle, and ultimate redemption, all delivered with a total lack of self-consciousness.
Wall Street Journal
A uniquely revealing pop star autobiography…. Me is essential reading for anyone who wants to know the difficult road that [Elton has] walked.
Rolling Stone
(Starred review) John keeps his good humor throughout, treating even his suicide attempts as farces and poking fun at his own vanity. [His] fans will love this funny, down-to-earth, and openhearted self-portrait. Photos included.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) [A]self-aware, revealing memoir.… Intimate, with brushes of gossip and hard-won wisdom, this compelling work joins the ranks of other masterly rock memoirs. A must-read for John's many devotees, it will also make fans out of those new to his music. —James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ
Library Journal
(Starred review) The legendary piano master tells all, and delightfully.… Sir Elton looks back at it all with grace and good humor.… [H]is memoir is a terrific read. One of the best rock memoirs of recent years and a revelation for fans.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for ME: ELTON JOHN'S OFFICIAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY … then take off on your own:
1. What role did Elton John's upbringing play in the adult—and the star—he became? How would you describe his parents? Talk about his family, especially his parents and their foul temper. How did it all affect him?
2. Despite his family and the suburb he grew up in—also that it was the rebellious 1960s—John liked his life, continuing to live with his extended family into young adulthood. What do you think made him stay?
3. (Follow-up to Question 2) It has been said by a reviewer that despite his wild, profligate behavior as a rock star, deep down Elston John had the heart of a bourgeois. Do you see that? Or not.
4. Talk about John's relationship, personal and professional, with Bernie Taupin—and the influence the two had on one another.
5.As he climbed his way to fame, what was John's relationship with other rock stars—Brian Wilson, Keith Richards, or David Bowie? Consider, too, his particular friendships with Freddie Mercury and Rod Stewart.
6. Talk about John's love life—his path toward coming out as a gay man, as well as his tendency toward jealousy and possessiveness.
7. How does John believe he kept from contracting AIDs?
8. There's a great deal of humor in this book. What in particular do you find funny in John's account of his life?
9. Did you find the book satisfying in terms of getting to know Elton John? Did you wish for more, for instance, his inspiration for some of his songs?
10. Overall, what do you think of Elton John—not the music but the man? What does John reveal about himself in this autobiography? In what way does he surprise you? What episodes in the book do you find most remarkable, most sensational, most intimate, or most off-putting?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A true (as told to me) story
Bess Kalb, 2020
Knopf Doubleday Publishing
224 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525654711
Summary
Bess Kalb, Emmy-nominated TV writer and New Yorker contributor, saved every voicemail her grandmother Bobby Bell ever left her. Bobby was a force—irrepressible, glamorous, unapologetically opinionated. Bobby doted on Bess; Bess adored Bobby.
Then, at ninety, Bobby died. But in this debut memoir, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as passionate as it ever was in life.
Recounting both family lore and family secrets, Bobby brings us four generations of indomitable women and the men who loved them. There's Bobby's mother, who traveled solo from Belarus to America in the 1880s to escape the pogroms, and Bess's mother, a 1970s rebel who always fought against convention.
Then there's Bess, who grew up in New York and entered the rough-and-tumble world of L.A. television. Her grandma Bobby was with her all the way—she was the light of Bess's childhood and her fiercest supporter, giving Bess unequivocal love, even if sometimes of the toughest kind.
In Nobody Will Tell You This But Me, Bobby reminds Bess of the experiences they shared, and she delivers—in phone calls, texts, and unforgettable heart-to-hearts brought vividly to the page—her signature wisdom:
If the earth is cracking behind you, you put one foot in front of the other.
Never. Buy. Fake. Anything.
I swear on your life every word of this is true.
With humor and poignancy, Bess Kalb gives us proof of the special bond that can skip a generation and endure beyond death. This book is a feat of extraordinary ventriloquism and imagination by a remarkably talented writer. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Bess Kalb is an Emmy-nominated writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live. Her writing for the show earned her a Writer's Guild Award in 2016. She has also written for the Oscars and the Emmys.
A regular contributor to The New Yorker's "Daily Shouts," her work has been published in The New Republic, Grantland, Salon.com, Wired, The Nation, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
If the second half of Kalb’s narrative is less affecting than the first, perhaps that is simply because everything after escape from a probable pogrom must be…. The author’s hints at her grandmother’s failings make Bobby more character and less caricature, but one longs for a still more fully rounded portrait. Some moments of neglect and even cruelty sit uneasily alongside Bobby’s quips and potted family histories.
New York Times Book Revew
Written from the sometimes acerbic, sometimes sweet and always laser-sharp perspective of Bell…. In between are Kalb’s loving recollections of their relationship, including snippets of conversations and voicemails and a steady supply of life advice…. In Kalb’s hands, the resulting stew is reliably funny and occasionally poignant on the aftermath of loss.
Los Angeles Times
[A] charming memoir to enjoy for a quick beach read, or lately, when quarantined at home.
New York Journal of Books
A funny, touching and timely reminder of the solace to be found in kindred spirits.
People
Kalb does a great job of capturing the voice of an opinionated, chronically concerned grandmother who’s convinced that she knows best.… This is a fun, touching tribute to family, and the perfect book for anyone who treasures their domineering, spirited grandmother.
Publishers Weekly
Kalb channels the voice of her recently deceased grandmother Bobby Bell… Striking a perfect balance between levity and poignancy, this is a standout debut. Readers looking for memoirs featuring strong family relationships with much love and laughter will be highly satisfied. —Anitra Gates, Erie Cty. P.L., PA
Library Journal
Bobby is the charming, hilarious, and ever-quotable star of her own one-woman show…. Mixing in day-to-day practicalities,… family tales, and oft-repeated lines, Kalb-as-Bobby crafts an uncanny rendering of two whole, wholly connected women and their unshakable bond.
Booklist
(Starred review) An endearing, bittersweet, entertainingly fresh take on the family memoir.… As the book progresses, the story becomes both sad and poignant… [making] for sometimes heartbreaking reading, honoring a beloved grandmother’s legacy.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, 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)
(Resources by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America's 16th President—and Why It Failed
Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch, 2020
Flatiron Books
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250317483
Summary
The bestselling authors of The First Conspiracy, which covers the secret plot against George Washington, now turn their attention to a little-known, but true story about a failed assassination attempt on President Lincoln.
Everyone knows the story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, but few are aware of the original conspiracy to kill him four years earlier in 1861, literally on his way to Washington, D.C., for his first inauguration.
The conspirators were part of a pro-Southern secret society that didn’t want an antislavery President in the White House. They planned an elaborate scheme to assassinate the brand new President in Baltimore as Lincoln’s inauguration train passed through en route to the Capitol.
The plot was investigated by famed detective Allan Pinkerton, who infiltrated the group with undercover agents, including one of the first female private detectives in America.
Had the assassination succeeded, there would have been no Lincoln Presidency, and the course of the Civil War and American history would have forever been altered. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Brad Meltzer
• Birth—April 1, 1970
• Raised—Brooklyn, New York City, New York; Miami, Florida, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Michigan; J.D., Columbia University
• Currently—lives in Florida
Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist (2018) The Inner Circle (2011), and many other bestselling thrillers, as well as the "Ordinary People Change the World" series. He is also the host of the History Channel TV shows Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and Brad Meltzer’s Lost History, which he used to help find the missing 9/11 flag that the firefighters raised at Ground Zero. (From the Publisher.)
Josh Mensch is a New York Times bestselling author and documentary television producer with a focus on American history and culture. He is coauthor with Brad Meltzer of The First Conspiracy: the Secret Plot to Kill George Washington (2019).
For television Mensch has written, directed, and been a showrunner on nonfiction series for PBS, the History Channel, National Geographic, and many other networks. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and children. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[F]ascinating and extremely readable… like an expertly crafted thriller.… [The authors] have clearly done their homework, and they prove to be experts at rendering history in an urgent, exciting way… [Yet] despite its dark subject matter, [The Lincoln Conspiracy is] relentlessly fun to read.… It's an expertly crafted book that seems sure to delight readers with an interest in lesser-known episodes of American history.
Michael Schaub - NPR
[A] solid recounting of the conspiracy to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln…. Meltzer and Mensch maintain suspense despite the known outcome of the story, and convincingly counter claims that Pinkerton made the whole thing up for publicity purposes.
Publishers Weekly
[The] authors follow the trail of intrigue, disguises, deceptions, and countermoves…. [This] instructive accounting of the mentality, movements, and means of Pinkerton and his agents makes for a revealing look inside the world of secessionist fanaticism. —Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Library Journal
[The] discussion of how the newly founded Pinkerton Agency infiltrated the conspiracy includes unexpected details of undercover work, 1860s-style—including by pathbreaking women detectives. A delightful addition to popular literature on the Civil War era.–
Booklist
[S]hort, energetic chapters… fashion a brisk political thriller…. [T]he authors vividly convey the virulent racism endemic in the South. A sharply drawn episode from a regrettable part of America's past. (b/w illustrations).
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, 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)
(Resources by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
Maggie O'Farrell, 2018
Knopf Doubleday
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525520221
Summary
An extraordinary memoir—told entirely in near-death experiences—from one of Britain's best-selling novelists, for fans of Wild, When Breath Becomes Air, and The Year of Magical Thinking.
We are never closer to life than when we brush up against the possibility of death.
I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life.
The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter—for whom this book was written—from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.
Seventeen discrete encounters with Maggie at different ages, in different locations, reveal a whole life in a series of tense, visceral snapshots.
In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, O'Farrell captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1972
• Where—Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK
• Raised—Wales and Scotland, UK
• Education—Cambridge University
• Awards—Costa Award; Betty Trask Award; Somerset Maugham Award
• Currently—lives in London, England
Maggie O'Farrell is a British author of contemporary fiction, who was once featured in Waterstones' 25 Authors for the Future. It is possible to identify several common themes in her novels—the relationship between sisters is one, another is loss and the psychological impact of those losses on the lives of her characters.
The Vanishing Act Esme Lennox was published in 2007. In 2010 O'Farrell won the Costa novel award for The Hand That First Held Mine. Her 2013 novel, Instructions for a Heatwave, also received wide acclaim.
Maggie was born in Ireland and grew up in Wales and Scotland. At the age of eight she missed a year of school due to a viral infection, an event that is echoed in The Distance Between Us. Maggie worked as a journalist, both in Hong Kong and as the Deputy Literary Editor of The Independent on Sunday. She has also taught creative writing.
She is married to the novelist William Sutcliffe, whom she met at Cambridge. They live in Hampstead Heath, London, with their two children. (From Wikipedia.)
Book Reviews
Where other writers may be playing with paper, O’Farrell takes up a bow and arrow and aims at the human heart.
Times (UK)
Extraordinary… uncomfortable and compelling—a page turner.… Fluent, poised, packed with colourful details. Her prose seems invulnerable. It has the sheen of fiction.
Guardian (UK)
O’Farrell emerges as determined, loyal, fierce and stoic; not to be messed with.… The message is that we must live in the moment, finding joy and freedom where we can, but O’Farrell writes so convincingly about the peril that each episode just serves as another detailed, technicolour reminder that we, and more terrifyingly, our loved ones, are only ever one bad decision, faulty choice or sliver of ill-fortune away from catastrophe. This is a mesmerising read.
Sunday Times (UK)
O’Farrell has a compelling and arresting writing style that fills in a scene quickly and engagingly, to great dramatic and narrative effect.… It is heady, engaging stuff—a bristling, rollercoaster of a read.
New Statesman (UK)
Electric.… Astonishing.… Should be read by everyone.… Affecting: wise, terrifying, vital and important… I can count on one hand the books that made me cry and still have two fingers spare. I Am, I Am, I Am is one of them.
Irish Times (UK)
[A] stunning collection of vignettes about near-death experiences in her life.… Her most dramatic examination of the precipice between life and death is when she writes about her children.… [F]ascinating and thought-provoking.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Astounding…awe-inspiring…a tour de force
Booklist
Throughout, the narrative is compelling and visceral; O'Farrell knows how to draw in readers.… An intriguing and mostly engaging collection of life-threatening stories.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The title of the book comes from a passage in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, in which a character seems to be reminding herself she’s still alive. Why is this an apt title for this memoir?
2. O’Farrell skips around in time rather than telling her stories chronologically. Why do you think she does this? What effect does it have on the reader?
3. Why has O’Farrell had so many near-death experiences—is she merely unlucky, or does something else explain it?
4. In "Neck," O’Farrell describes her job at a retreat: "I clear away human traces, erasing all evidence that they have eaten, slept, made love, argued, washed, worn clothes, read newspapers, shed hair and skin and bristle and blood and toenails" (page 5). Why does she view her work this way? What does it tell us about her?
5. We learn about O’Farrell’s neurological condition in "Lungs" (2000), when she seems to be on her way to drowning. What drives her to risk her life like this, when she knows her own limitations?
6. The chapter in which O’Farrell narrowly avoids being hit by a car is called "Spine, Legs, Pelvis, Abdomen, Head." What does this refer to?
7. When she fails to secure postgraduate funding, O’Farrell abandons her fascination with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: "I must shut the door on it—and her. I liked my connection with her, through the words of the story. I relied on it. I felt as though I had reached back through time, down through the pages of the book, and taken hold of her hand. But I must give her up. I won’t read the book again for many years" (page 53). Why does she feel this way?
8. In various places throughout the book, O’Farrell paints herself in a negative light—for instance, says, "I am too volatile, too skittish, too impatient" (page 54). What do you, the reader, think of her self-portrait?
9. How does the incident on the plane propel O’Farrell into writing?
10. Several of O’Farrell’s near-death experiences relate to the fact that she’s female. What role does gender play here?
11. At O'Farrell’s near-catastrophic childbirth, a mysterious man in beige steps in with an unexpected kindness. She writes, "When he took my hand he taught me something about the value of touch, the communicative power of the human hand" (page 92). Why does this have such an impact on her?
12. After her "missed miscarriage," what makes O’Farrell so reluctant to have the operation?
13. In the chapter entitled "Lungs" (2010), O’Farrell discusses her childhood fascination with the myth of the selkie (page 120). Why does she think of this when she’s caught in a riptide? How does the memory help her?
14. What do we learn about O’Farrell from the story about the knife thrower?
15. In "Cranium" and again in "Bloodstream," two chapters dealing with infidelity, O’Farrell switches to third-person narration. Why? How does this change your reading experience?
16. On page 206, O’Farrell recalls her father’s admonition, "Stay in your depth!" Aside from the drowning connotations, where else could this apply in her life?
17. In "Cerebellum," we learn that many of O’Farrell’s behaviors may be a result of her childhood bout with encephalitis. How does this change your opinion of her?
18. O’Farrell describes the period during which she was sick as one of the key points in her life: "The hinge on which my childhood swung. Until that morning I woke up with a headache, I was one person, and after it, I was quite another" (page 226). Looking beyond the physical and neurological effects of encephalitis, what does she mean?
19. Several times in "Daughter," O’Farrell wonders what she did to cause her daughter’s condition. Why does she seek to blame herself?
20. O’Farrell ends her memoir with an echo to the title: "She is, she is, she is." Why does this phrase resonate with her?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Educated: A Memoir
Tara Westover, 2018
Random House
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780399590504
Summary
An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University.
Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom.
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills” bag. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged metal in her father’s junkyard.
Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when an older brother became violent.
When another brother got himself into college and came back with news of the world beyond the mountain, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. She taught herself enough mathematics, grammar, and science to take the ACT and was admitted to Brigham Young University.
There, she studied psychology, politics, philosophy, and history, learning for the first time about pivotal world events like the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.
Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the grief that comes from severing one’s closest ties.
With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1986
• Where—Idaho
• Education—B.A., Brigham Young University; M,Phil, Ph.D., Cambridge University,
• Currently—lives in London, England
Tara Westover was born in rural Idaho in 1986. Never having been in a classroom, she undertook her own education, receiving her BA from Brigham Young University in 2008. She was subsequently awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship and earned an MPhil from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 2009.
In 2010 Westover was a visiting fellow at Harvard University and later returned to Cambridge where, in 2014, she was awarded a PhD.
Before decamping to London, where she now lives, Westover remained in Cambridge for several years, frequently joining folk singer/song-writer John Meed on stage. She has also sung in two of his albums.
Educated is her first book. (Adapted from the publisher and online sources.)
Book Reviews
A girl claws her way out of a claustrophobic, violent fundamentalist family into an elite academic career in this searing debut memoir.… Westover’s vivid prose makes this saga of the pressures of conformity and self-assertion that warp a family seem both terrifying and ordinary.
Publishers Weekly
Explicit descriptions of abuse can make for difficult reading, but…Westover's writing is lyrical and literary in style. With no real comparison memoir, this joins the small number of Mormon exposes of recent years. —Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH
Library Journal
A recent Cambridge University doctorate debuts with a wrenching account of her childhood and youth in a strict Mormon family in a remote region of Idaho.… An astonishing account of deprivation, confusion, survival, and success.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Many of Tara’s father’s choices have an obvious impact on Tara’s life, but how did her mother’s choices influence her? How did that change over time?
2. Tara’s brother Tyler tells her to take the ACT. What motivates Tara to follow his advice?
3. Charles was Tara’s first window into the outside world. Under his influence, Tara begins to dress differently and takes medicine for the first time. Discuss Tara’s conflicting admiration for both Charles and her father.
4. Tara has titled her book Educated and much of her education takes place in classrooms, lectures, or other university environments. But not all. What other important moments of "education" were there? What friends, acquaintances, or experiences had the most impact on Tara? What does that imply about what an education is?
5. Eventually, Tara confronts her family about her brother’s abuse. How do different the members of her family respond?
6. What keeps Tara coming back to her family as an adult?
7. Ultimately, what type of freedom did education give Tara?
8. Tara wrote this at the age of thirty, while in the midst of her healing process. Why do you think she chose to write it so young, and how does this distinguish the book from similar memoirs?
9. Tara paid a high price for her education: she lost her family. Do you think she would make the same choice again?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)