To the extent that this novel extends and expands upon ideas introduced in Exley's previous work, it will be especially helpful to have read both A Fan's Notes and Pages From a Cold Island prior to undertaking discussion of either.

And, if any reader has at any time fancied himself or herself a writer, he or she may enjoy exploring his or her personal experience with "the writing life" relative to Exley's expression of same in this novel. Exley's authorial elf-reflexivity will provide plenty of grist for conversation concerning what it is to write and to be a writer.

1. To what does Exley attribute his difficulty "concluding" Pages from a Cold Island? Does this instance of "writer's block" represent any larger malaise?

2. Describe the ways in which Edmund Wilson, Gloria Steinem, and Norman Mailer serve as foils for the protagonist of this narrative.

3. Where can you...