1. How does Emily's job as receptionist at her father's law firm enable her to better understand her father?

2. How do Joanie's diagnosis of cancer and Marjorie's giving birth to little Malcolm change their respective relationships with Emily, and to what extent are those relationships dysfunctional?

3. In what ways do Emily's conversations with Wendy and Will at her father's firm reveal the peculiar aspects of that office's culture, and why is that culture especially comforting to Emily?

4. How does the structure of Ask Again Later, with its short segmented chapters and its frequent flashbacks, affect your appreciation of Emily's response to her mother's crisis?

5. To what extent does Emily's decision to leave her boyfriend, Sam, stem from his criticism of and frustration with her inability to commit?

6. What does Emily hope to achieve by eavesdropping on her father's telephone conversations, and why does she hold him accountable for all of her unsatisfactory relationships with men?

7. What does Emily hope to achieve by eavesdropping on her father's telephone conversations, and why does she hold him accountable for all of her unsatisfactory relationships with men?

8. In what respects is Emily's father, Jim, the catalyst for her renewed relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Sam?

9. How do Joanie's surprising revelations about her children's early years impact Emily's feelings for her father?

10. How does Emily's longing for a child relate to all that she has experienced as an adult child of divorced parents in the course of Ask Again Later?