They have three children, Michael, Celia and Alec, and some respite from the darkness through the years as the children grow up. Before marrying John, Margaret encounters one episode of his debilitating depression but marries him anyway. John, who is ‘a showman when he is on, capable of great largesse’ is from England, and his American wife, Margaret, lays stake to John’s heart because ‘No woman had ever looked at me as directly as she did’. Kindness follows the fortunes of a middle-class family. Imagine Me Gone, all I knew was that whatever Adam Haslett had to say would put me back in a soundless room and the characters would lead me down a few corridors I dare not walk down alone. What remained captivating about all the stories, even the ones too violent to swallow, was the feeling of being in an anechoic chamber, with the characters appearing clearly, one after another, without the distractions of any other noise. You Are Not a Stranger Here was when the frenzied, old inventor exposes himself at the Ruebenses. The lightest moment in Adam Haslett’s 2002 collection of short stories Thanks.The best fiction I have read has always made me forget the name of the author the fastest. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. What does this book suggest about our responsibility to care for one another, despite constant and expected disappointment? Is there a point in which utter hopelessness gives us permission to no longer attempt active care? Follow-up to Question #7 Were you taken by surprise at that outcome?ĩ. Was the outcome inevitable? Was Michael naive?Ĩ. Consider Alex's desire to spirit Michael away to Maine. A good deal of Michael's inner workings are revealed in his letters and his responses on medical forms. If his father's mind is given to 'hibernation,' how would you describe Michael's mind? How does it differ from his father's?Ħ. Talk about the children of this union and their relationship with both their parents and with one another, especially with Michael.ĥ. Was it irresponsible of John to marry Margaret and father three children? What about his suicide?Ĥ. It goes into a sort of hibernation.' Before reading Imagine Me Gone, what was your understanding of depression? Having read Haslett's book, have your views been altered.or confirmed?ģ. In attempting to explain the nature of depression to Margaret, the doctor tells her: 'You could say the mind closes down.

Had you been Margaret-or even yourself-would you have made the same choice to marry John?Ģ. We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available in the meantime use our LitLovers talking points to get a discussion started for Imagine Me Gone.

Imagine me gone book review