56 pages • 1 hour read
In Pieces
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book Club Questions
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse, child sexual abuse, and pregnancy loss or termination.
General Impressions
Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.
1. What surprised or intrigued you the most about In Pieces?
2. How does this memoir compare to other celebrity memoirs you’ve read?
3. All memoirists must decide which events to include in their narrative. Which experiences of Field’s were the most interesting to you? Is there a part of her life you wanted to know more about that she didn’t discuss?
Personal Reflection and Connection
Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.
1. What wisdom or insight did you gain from reading In Pieces?
2. Field’s work is vulnerable and revealing. Which passage was most moving or meaningful to you? Why?
3. Which of Field’s themes or discussions could you relate to the most?
4. In what ways do you feel similar to and different from the author? How do you think this informed your experience of reading and understanding the book?
Societal and Cultural Context
Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.
1. How did growing up in the 1950s and 1960s inform Field’s life and development? How do you think her experiences might differ if she were born today?
2. How does Field’s memoir contribute to ongoing discourse in our society? Consider her revelations about abuse, romantic relationships, abortion, therapy, and parenthood.
Literary Analysis
Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.
1. Field’s title, In Pieces, has multiple meanings. Discuss these meanings and how they come up in different ways in the book.
2. Which “pieces” does the author use to tell her story? Consider how the inclusion of letters, diary entries, and photos influences readers’ experience and understanding of her life.
3. One of the author’s themes is The Legacy of Family Relationships. Discuss how her relationship with her mother, Margaret, ebbed and flowed over the course of her life. What significance did this have to Field’s self-development, and how is that reflected in her book?
4. What objects, settings, events, or places have symbolic meaning or function as motifs in Field’s memoir? How do they connect to the main themes?
Creative Engagement
Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.
1. Choose a song that reflects the mood of one of Field’s experiences. Explain why you chose this song as the soundtrack for that scene.
2. If you could interview Field about her life and memoir, what would you ask her?
