The Rest of Our Lives

Objective: Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Discuss your overall impressions of the novel. What were your favorite and least favorite aspects of the story, and why?

2. If you’ve read other Markovits novels, like A Weekend in New York, Childish Loves, or Fathers and Daughters, compare your experience reading these titles with that of reading The Rest of Our Lives.

3. Compare and contrast Markovits’s novel to other novels that feature road trips or life-changing adventures away from home. What thematic or narrative overlaps do you notice between The Rest of Our Lives and novels like David Arnold’s Mosquitoland, Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, or David Nicholls’s You Are Here?

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

1. Discuss your responses to Tom’s decision not to return home after dropping his daughter off at college. Have you ever made a similarly impulsive decision, and why? Did this decision lead to unexpected personal change? If so, in what ways?

2. Tom’s time on the road challenges him to reflect on his relationship with Amy, which fuels the novel’s thematic exploration surrounding The Fear of Emotional Confrontation. How do Tom’s meditations on his relationship resonate with your own romantic challenges? Have you ever been granted the time and space to make sense of your own relationship struggles?

3. Discuss Tom’s relationships with his wife, daughter, and son. How do these familial dynamics compare and contrast with your own family culture? Which aspects of Tom’s role in the family were least or most believable in light of your experience, and why?

4. Tom’s mandatory leave of absence challenges him to reconsider his political views. How do Tom’s viewpoints compare and contrast with your own? Which of Tom’s beliefs do you find least or most problematic, and why?

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

1. The novel uses Tom’s work life to explore the theme of The Friction Arising from Culture Wars. Explore how Markovits represents culture wars in the novel. To what extent does he use Tom’s opinions to reinforce bigoted viewpoints or interrogate cultural stereotypes? What are the possible flaws in Markovits’s representations of gender, race, and equality?

2. How does Markovits use Tom’s illness, marital issues, and paternal relationships to cast new light on the middle-age experience? Consider the text in comparison to titles like Andrew Sean Greer’s Less or Miranda July’s All Fours.

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

1. The novel has only three chapters and doesn’t follow a linear plot line. Analyze Markovits’s structural and formal choices and their relationship to the novel’s central themes.

2. Compare and contrast Tom’s character to Brian Palmetto, Sam Tierney, and Todd Gimmell. What do the similarities and differences between Tom and his friends reveal about Tom and imply about his viewpoints?

3. Explore how each new place Tom travels to impacts him. Compare his experiences in and responses to settings including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, Nevada, and California.

4. Identify three symbols that the guide doesn’t explore (e.g., the beach house, Tom’s book, or the Comfort Inn), and discuss their relevance to the novel’s broader themes. What might they represent, and how do they advance the novel’s exploration of identity, ethics, or love?

Objective: Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine that, like Tom, you decide to take a solo road trip across the country. Where would you stop, who would you visit, and what would you see? How might these experiences facilitate your personal growth?

2. Imagine that you’re adapting The Rest of Our Lives into a feature film. Who would you cast in the leading roles? How would you structure the film to capture both Tom’s interiority and his lived experiences? Which plot points would you add, omit, or alter to make the adaptation your own?