Review and discussion questions for: THE RABBIT HUTCH by Tess Gunty

This month's book club selection was Tess Gunty's National Book Award winning novel The Rabbit Hutch. It was a unanimous choice at first but then as women started reading the book a few balked, thinking the book was too difficult and contained too many trigger topics. We decided to go ahead with our choice and, boy, am I glad we did.

The Rabbit Hutch weaves together the daily dramas of tenants in a run-down apartment complex in a run-down fictitious town named Vacca Vale, Indiana. The builders, trying to give the apartment complex an air of sophistication named it 'La Lapinière', but the residents just called it the Rabbit Hutch. (Lapinière is the French word for rabbit hutch.) We all are familiar with rabbit hutches but it is odd to think of humans living in one where "walls are so thin, you can hear everyone's lives progress like a radio play." The tenants are all living down-and-out lives in their down-and-out apartments in the #1 Dying City in America. "Set over one sweltering week in July and culminating in a bizarre act of violence that finally changes everything, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America, a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and longing, entrapment and, ultimately, freedom" (Publisher).

As I read and listened to The Rabbit Hutch I couldn't help but think of the book Lolita by Nabokov. I've always thought of that classic book as the most beautifully written book about a depraved topic. The Rabbit Hutch is stuffed full of trigger worthy topics and themes: child abandonment, the foster care system and shortcomings, sexual abuse of a minors and predator behavior, animal sacrifices, poverty and loneliness. Think of a depraved topic, it is probably addressed in this book. But the writing is brilliant. BRILLIANT! Like Nabokov, Gunty has a beautiful command of the English language and inserts phrases and quips throughout the story which would catch me up so I'd have to stop and think about what was said and the deeper meaning. One gal at book club said the book made her think about herself and her life choices in the face of encountering similar problems with students and neighbors. A book is a wonderful thing if it causes us to stop and change directions toward a more positive future. All this depravity is broken up by humorous situations, which I suppose what made the book bearable.

I am not getting anywhere near to a good summary of the book. I hope you take the chance to read its review in the New York Times. Also take a minute to read the interview Gunty did with the editorial staff at Waterstone, an online magazine. The Rabbit Hutch won the first Waterstone Debut Fiction Award. Both of these sources helped fill out my appreciation of the book.

Now to our book club discussion. The publisher provided no discussion questions and the ones we were able to find online were very basic. I wrote several questions to augment what others were able to find and we ended up having a very robust discussion. To be clear, two of us loved the book, two hated the book, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle. Afterwards all admitted that we had a fantastic discussion, even those who didn't like the book. So don't be afraid to pick this book for your future club meetings.

The Rabbit Hutch Discussion Questions 

(Spoiler alert: Some details of the book will be revealed in the questions.)

1. What did you think was revealed in the opening lines of the book  “On a hot night in Apartment C4, Blandine Watkins exits her body. She is only 18 years old, but she has spent most of her life wishing for this to happen.” And how did this affect your feelings about the book going forward?
2. Why do you think Blandine, the 18-year-old, former foster care 'graduate', is obsessed with Catholic mystics even though she was not religious?
3. Blandine never left Vacca Vale but her whole life she felt like an outsider. How does this happen? Have you ever known anyone in a similar situation? (Our group is made up of teachers, so we could reflect back on past students.)
4. Talk about the characters: Blandine, Moses, Elsie, Joan, Todd/Malik/Jack, James, others. 
5. The theme of "home" is a recurring one. Give some examples of how the characters felt about home.
6. What aspect of "dying cities" have you been aware of where you live? What signs of resurgence?
7. The book highlights how often there is a lack of societal responsibility by its members. Discuss examples of this from the book and in your own community/life.
8. What aspects of the book did you find funny/humorous? (You might need to prompt the group with some you've thought of before the meeting. We found so many funny aspects but of course they were hidden in some awful circumstances. It took us a while to come up with some and then the flood gate was open and we couldn't stop finding new humorous quotes/quips/situations.)
9. How did you react to the chapter of visual illustrations? Did it help you understand the unfolding scene better or not?
10. Todd, Jack, and Malik start sacrificing animals at some point. How does this come to pass and why did they continue it?
11. Late in the book Jack's chapters are written in 1st person. Why do you think the author switched that point-of-view and gave Jack a front row seat? Did you notice it? How did it impact the story?
12. What are your favorite quotes/quips? Here are a few of my favorites:
• "Her voice sounded like a communion wafer -- tasteless and light."
• "He wears his testosterone like a strong cologne."
• "You couldn't go anywhere in this town without bumping into God."
• "It takes Blandine a long time to respond, and when she does, the words seem laborius for her. She lugs them in to the room as though they're pieces of furniture."
13. On the last page of the book Joan wonders what comments people would make to fill the obituary guest book if Blandine died. What comments do you think people would make and who are these people? 
14. What is your reaction to the last few lines of the book summed up as, "I'm awake. Are you?"
15. What growth/positive movement did the characters make by the end of the book?

★Feel free to use these discussion questions for your book club discussion. If you publish the questions for your members or in any other publication, please give me credit. Thank you, Anne@HeadFullofBooks

-Anne