Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Did you appreciate Bunnie’s unfiltered writing style? Why or why not?

2. What did you find most shocking about Bunnie’s life experiences?

3. If you’ve read other celebrity memoirs, especially ones detailing drug use or childhood trauma—such as The Dirt (2001) by the band Motley Crue, Paris Hilton’s Paris: The Memoir (2023), The Woman in Me (2023) by Britney Spears—how does Stripped Down compare?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Bunnie often faces personal and professional danger as a result of her choices. Have you ever made a risky decision or chosen to do something even though you knew it could be life-threatening? What did you learn from the experience?

2. Bunnie describes a tight-knit group of friends, some of whom enable her self-destructive behavior and others who support her. Have you ever had a friend in crisis, like Bunnie was?

3. Bunnie eventually uses cognitive reframing to turn her negative experiences into learning tools. Have you ever taken a negative experience and made something positive out of it?

4. Bunnie wants to portray sex work as empowering rather than shameful. Have you ever participated in an activity deemed taboo? Did you make your participation public or keep it hidden?

5. The memoir points out how intergenerational cycles of abuse and other dysfunctional behaviors form and continue. Have you ever observed a harmful pattern in your own family or that of someone close to you? What happened to break that pattern?

6. What lesson from Bunnie’s life spoke most to you and is most likely to be implemented into your daily life?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The memoir depicts the Las Vegas sex industry as permanently enmeshed with substance abuse and other harmful lifestyles. How does this play into contemporary discussions about legalizing sex work in the US?

2. Bunnie’s childhood in the 1980s and 1990s highlights how several institutions failed to uncover and intervene in her abusive and neglectful home life. Have schools, churches, and the medical establishment gotten better at helping kids escape dangerous situations?

3. Bunnie uses elements of pop therapy and self-help genres, particularly when she urges readers to take her advice about their own lives. How does the memoir speak to contemporary understanding of self-help literature?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does the memoir’s narrative structure underscore the uneven journey of psychological healing, which often consist of progress and regression?

2. What rhetorical techniques does Bunnie use to make herself sound authentic and relatable to her readers? Who are her intended readers, and how does the memoir identify that implied audience?

3. Consider the memoir’s portrayal of motherhood. How do the approaches of Vanessa, Mindy, Bailee’s mother, and Bunnie herself compare and contrast? What does the memoir say about motherhood?

4. Discuss Bunnie’s faith as portrayed in the memoir. How does she transform her repressive and punitive experiences of religion in childhood into a mystical and personal connection to the divine?

5. Bunnie ends the memoir with a realistic look at “ever after happily” (266), which she writes is never perfect. How does this ending align with readers expectations for this kind of memoir?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. What do you think Bunnie’s life will look like moving forward? Describe her family and living situation in 10 years.

2. Imagine you were developing a TV show out of Bunnie’s memoir. What genre would be ideal for capturing her voice and experiences?