by Amy Bloom
AB: The ripple effect of love, of hate, of indifference, the consequences of one’s actions, are always of interest to me. In Come to Me, I wrote a story about a woman who chooses to go back to her husband rather than go off with her lover, not because she couldn’t bear to hurt her husband and her children but because she felt she would be an inadequate and unhappy stepmother, and, in the end, a bad wife to a second husband. In the William and Clare stories, part of what I was writing about is that in midlife, in the face of an unexpected and powerful love, one has a lot to lose. Inevitably, there is loss, some of which people recover from and some of which they don’t—another theme of mine.
RHRC: You are known for your titles, and the stories in this collection are no exception. Tell us a little about how you chose these titles.
AB: “Where the God of Love Hangs Out” is a little unusual for me because of the colloquial phrase “hangs out.” I ended up choosing that in part because it reflected the setting of that particular story, which is a dive in a dying town. My hope for every title is that it actually adds something to the story. It doesn’t summarize it and it doesn’t preview it, it gives something to the story that wouldn’t be there otherwise.
RHRC: Tell us a little about your writing process. Also, what writing projects are you currently pursuing?
AB: My writing process such as it is consists of a lot of noodling, procrastinating, dawdling, and avoiding. I usually write fiction in the afternoon. I am currently at work on a couple of television projects—one about family, one about cops—and another novel, which is about sisters, parents, psychics, orphanages, and vaudeville.
READING GROUP QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Why do you think Bloom chose to tell the stories of Lionel and Julia and William and Clare through a collection of interlocking stories? Does this device allow Bloom to reveal something that a single story or the novel form would not? Can you read the stories individually, or must they be read only as a collection?
2. What do the titles of these stories tell us about what is going on below the surface? For example, what does “The Old Impossible” suggest about William and Clare’s love? Or “Night Vision” about Lionel and Julia’s relationship?
3. In these stories, Bloom explores love in many forms—old friendships, marriage, parenthood. What are some of the other types of love relationships found in these stories? Which ones are unexpected? Which are forbidden or secret?
4. Which characters transgress the boundaries of their relationships with other characters? How do these transgressions change the nature of the relationship? Which actions damage a relationship forever? Which relationships cannot be repaired? What price do they pay for their transgressions?
5. Many of Bloom’s characters play multiple roles—mother, sister, daughter, wife, lover. Do these roles, such as husband or wife, provide safety? If so, what happens when these labels are undermined? Explore the many roles assumed by William and Clare at the beginning of their relationship—not only with each other but also with the other characters. How do these roles change by the end of “Compassion and Mercy”?
6. Does love change over time? What is the nature of love in the second half of life? How does love toward the end change our understanding of its beginning? In “Between Here and Here,” the daughter undergoes a transformation in her understanding of her father as he ages. How do you understand his change in behavior and her feelings toward him? How do Lionel’s feelings about Julia evolve as she ages?
7. Many love stories explore only the mysteries and wonders of love, but Bloom goes further and often writes about love’s darker side. What are some of the casualties of love in these stories? What happens when love ends, either by choice or, which it always does, death?
8. Many of the most important scenes in these stories happen around the dinner table as the characters share a meal or a drink. What role does food play in each of the stories? How do we understand William and Clare sharing nectarines in “The Old Impossible”? Or Lionel teaching Buster to eat a peach in “Fort Useless and Fort Ridiculous”? How does the family Thanksgiving tradition evolve over the Lionel and Julia stories, and what does this reveal about the family?
9. What are some of the secrets kept in these stories? How do secrets affect love? How do they define the love relationships?
10. In the story “Where the God of Love Hangs Out,” Ray and Ellie remind each other that they vowed to love each other “for better or for worse.” Do you agree that love must be able to contain both? What were some of the “for betters” in these stories? What were some of the “for worses”?
11. In Bloom’s stories, it is the small acts of everyday love and intimacy that mean the most between two people. What are some examples from this collection?
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THE RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING GROUP
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AMY BLOOM is the author of Away, a novel, and two collections of prizewinning stories: Come to Me and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You. She teaches creative writing at Yale University, where she is a fellow of Calhoun College.
Amy Bloom is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please visit www.rhspeakers.com call 212-572-2013.
Where the God of Love Hangs Out is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Amy Bloom
Reading group guide copyright © 2011 by Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Random House Reader’s Circle and Design is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.
Some of the stories in this work originally appeared in the following: “Compassion and Mercy” in Granta, Summer, 2009; “By-And-By” in Ms., Summer, 2004; “Between Here and Here” in Narrative, December, 2009; “Your Borders, Your Rivers, Your Tiny Villages” in Ploughshares, Fall, 2002; “The Old Impossible” in Ploughshares, Fall, 2006; “I Love to See You Coming, I Hate to See You Go” in Tin House, Spring, 2004; and “Permafrost” in Yale Review, January, 2010.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:
HarperCollins Publishers and Pan Macmillan, London: “Sleepwalking” from Come to Me by Amy Bloom, copyright © 1993 by Amy Bloom. Rights in the United Kingdom are controlled by Pan Macmillan, London. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers and Pan Macmillan, London.
Jane Hirshfield: “When Your Life Looks Back” and “Opening the Hands Between Here and Here” by Jane Hirshfield, copyright © 2008 by Jane Hirshfield. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Random House, Inc., and Pan Macmillan, London: “Night Vision” and “Light into Dark” from A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You by Amy Bloom, copyright © 2000 by Amy Bloom. Rights in the United Kingdom are controlled by Pa
n Macmillan, London. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bloom, Amy Where the god of love hangs out: fiction / Amy Bloom.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-987-1
I. Title.
PS3552.L6378W47 2009
813′.54—dc22 2009023722
www.atrandom.com
Cover painting: Sherrie Wolf, Red and Yellow Cherries After Constable (Laura Russo Gallery, Portland, Oregon)
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