For readers familiar with Butler's other novels, fascinating discussion might center on the characters from other novels who appear or are mentioned in Dreamer.

The possible significance of such reappearances and the various kinds or degrees of "reality," fictional or otherwise, that these characters possess offer possible topics.

Other fruitful areas for discussion might include the Santa Fe setting of the novel and the "New Age" interests and practices—the interest in "lucid dreaming," for example, or Native American shamanism—reflected in the book. Indeed, the entire subject of dream theory and dream lore represents a large field for discussion. Ideas about the nature and function of religion constitute another such area, as does Loren Wingo's concept of the spiritual realm or "afterlife."

As was the case with Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock, the plot of Dreamer includes many situations that...