The Burgess Boys By Elizabeth Strout Conversation Starters

The Burgess Boys: A Novel By Elizabeth Strout | Conversation Starters  

 

A Brief Look Inside: 

Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” wrote The New Yorker on the publication of her Pulitzer Prize–winning Olive Kitteridge. The San Francisco Chronicle praised Strout’s “magnificent gift for humanizing characters.” Now the acclaimed author returns with a stunning novel as powerful and moving as any work in contemporary literature.

 

Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into a world of trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

 

With a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character, Elizabeth Strout has brought to life two deeply human protagonists whose struggles and triumphs will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. Tender, tough-minded, loving, and deeply illuminating about the ties that bind us to family and home, The Burgess Boys is Elizabeth Strout’s newest and perhaps most astonishing work of literary art.

 

EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER 

than the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive, 

and the characters and its world still live on. 

Conversation Starters  is peppered with questions designed to 

bring us beneath the surface of the page 

and invite us into the world that lives on.  

 

These questions can be used to.. 

 

 

Create Hours of Conversation: 

•   Foster a deeper understanding of the book 

•   Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups 

•   Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately 

•   Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before 

 

Disclaimer: This book you are about to enjoy is an independent resource to supplement the original book, enhancing your experience of The Burgess Boys.  If you have not yet purchased a copy of the original book, please do before purchasing this unofficial Conversation Starters.