Skip to main content

Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

Skels

1. The author has stated, "When I wrote Skels, I was thinking about what would happen if the ambulance world was permeated with the works of past writers, and the skels were carrying the consciousnesses of the writers themselves." How does idea this play out in the book? Do you see specific writers in specific characters? If so, which ones?

2. How does humor function in the book? In your opinion does it function to enhance or detract from the book's social commentary and literary themes?

3. How is a sense of place transmitted in Skels? How much of a sense of magic or disorientation do you feel Dubris intentionally creates and how much do you see as endemic to the city and time period? What was going on socially and economically at the national level in 1979 and how, if at all, do larger social and economic forces shape the characters and plot?

4. How does holographer's billboard expand on the idea of 'poetry' in daily life?

5. Who do you think is the most decent or admirable person in the book? The least admirable? Does the world the characters inhabit change your standards for judging them?

6. Compare and contrast the use of rural and urban images and landscapes. In Skels, does the country appear at times inside the city, and vice versa? If so, what function does this serve in relation to the plot and theme?

7. What do you think really happened that night on the pier when Morgan's partner shot himself? Do find this a "reason" that explains Morgan's behavior? Or do you think his nature was this way to begin with? What other characters in literature had a similar nature?

Skels
by Maggie Dubris

  • Publication Date: May 14, 2004
  • Paperback: 260 pages
  • Publisher: Soft Skull Press
  • ISBN-10: 1932360255
  • ISBN-13: 9781932360257