1. Why do you think the author chose to open the collection with "The Archetype's Girlfriend"? Which of the character traits described in the story apply to you? Your friends?

2. What does "Something Shiny" say about identity? How easily can others "figure us out"? Do you think, like Apple Fowler, there is someone who might be able to live your life better than you?

3. How do the fantastical elements in "Privacy and Coffee," "Something Shiny," "Return from the Depot!" and "The Daves" help illustrate the characters' emotional lives? How do you think the stories might have played out in reality?

4. Why does the narrator in "Privacy and Coffee" become a recluse? Is it possible to completely cut oneself off from the world? Where would you set up camp if you could pick any place in the world? How long do you think you'd be happy there?

5. Why do you think the author chose to write "You Take Naps" and "When the Messenger is Hot" in the second person? How does this approach affect your understanding of the stories?

6. What do you think Alice is trying to express through her poem at the end of "An Intervention"? Is her poem good or bad? Does it make a difference either way? How might the story be different without it?

7. Which character in the collection changes the most by the end of her story? Which character changes the least? Which character's decisions do you most agree with? Disagree with?

8. The concept of "denial" has left the therapist's office and entered mainstream conversation. Which stories in this collection deal with denial? Does the author seem wholeheartedly to condemn or endorse it?

9. Why do you think the author included so many footnotes in "The Super Fantastic New Zealand Triangle"? If you could footnote your life, what would need the most explaining?

10. In "Christina" is the ghost baby real or just a figment of the narrator's imagination? What does Christina represent?