by Erin Somers
4. Spencer and June are closer in age than June and Hugo. Compare their respective roles within their own families, based on June’s memories of her parents’ visit to New York (p. 124) and Spencer’s interactions with Hugo over the course of the weekend. Which family would you rather be a member of?
5. “I wanted [Hugo’s] fame and hated that I wanted it,” admits June (page 201). How do June, Hugo, Spencer, and Julian see fame differently? Is fame more than a fickle friend for anyone in the novel?
6. During his interview with Casey Caruso, Hugo emphasizes the importance of supporting female comics despite dismissing June’s points about inclusivity the night before. June wonders if he has stolen her ideas simply to make himself look good or if he has genuinely learned something from her. Which do you think is true?
7. Discuss your reactions to the revelation about the fan who stabbed Hugo. In what ways, if any, did this change your perception of him? Why do you think Hugo keeps the details a secret from Spencer?
8. There is a lot of comedy in Stay Up with Hugo Best. For June’s father, comedy is “for making people laugh”; for June, comedy is meant to “challenge the culture” (page 128). Which did this novel as a whole do more of for you?
9. From Kitty Rosenthal to the events aboard Duck Soup, discuss how Hugo and June’s relationship comments on the #MeToo movement and the questions raised about power dynamics and sexual assault. Did Hugo have “funny business” on his mind the whole weekend?
10. June is twenty-nine years old and well past her teenage years. Nevertheless, Stay Up with Hugo Best can be thought of as a coming-of-age story. How has June changed in the three days she spends in Connecticut?
11. We learn Hugo’s fate at the end of the novel. Where do you imagine June will be in five years? What will she be doing with her life?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. With your book club, check out recordings of some of the comics June and Hugo idolize, including Don Rickles, George Carlin, Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and Andy Kaufman, and discuss your reactions to their various styles of comedy.
2. Read Labor Day by Joyce Maynard or Independence Day by Richard Ford, two other novels set over holiday weekends. Compare the techniques used by the authors to tell a complete story over a short timeline.
About the Author
* * *
© NINA SUBIN
Erin Somers’s writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, Ploughshares, McSweeney’s, and many other publications. She was a 2016 Center for Fiction’s NYC Emerging Writers Fellow and a 2016 Millay Colony resident. She lives in Beacon, New York, with her husband and daughter. Stay Up with Hugo Best is her first novel.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Erin-Somers
@ScribnerBooks
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
* * *
Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.
Scribner
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Erin Somers
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Scribner hardcover edition April 2019
SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Interior design by Kyle Kabel
Jacket design by Zak Tebbal
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-9821-0235-7
ISBN 978-1-9821-0237-1 (ebook)