Cheat and Charmer (92 page)

1. What was McCarthyism? At what stage in the House Un-American Activities Committee investigations does the novel take place?

2. What is Dinah’s life like at the time she receives the subpoena? Where is her sister, Veevi, and how does Dinah feel about her? Is Dinah prepared for the crisis she now faces?

3. What consequences does Dinah face if she refuses to testify? And if she agrees?

4. What picture of Hollywood do we get through Dinah’s and Jake’s eyes? Is it at all different from the usual portrayals of the movie industry we get from other novels, films, and TV?

5. What picture of marriage in the fifties do we get from Dinah and Jake? Is Dinah fulfilled in her marriage? Do we see her marriage as she does?

6. What kind of relationship do Dinah and Veevi have? Does it seem typical of relationships between sisters? Are there hidden tensions between them?

7. Does Dinah come to her own decisions, or is she manipulated by outside forces? Where in the novel does she exhibit independence? Does her marriage to Jake allow for such autonomy?

8. What political past do Dinah and Veevi share, and what role does it come to play in their current lives?

9. Does Dinah’s awareness of her life change, shift, or grow throughout the novel? What are the unintended consequences of decisions she makes early on in the story?

10. Are any characters in the story completely good or completely bad? Do your feelings change about the characters as you get to know them? Do you ever get angry with Dinah? Jake? Veevi?

11. How do you feel about Jake and Veevi as the story develops? And how do the secondary or “supporting” characters function—Dorshka Albrecht, for example, and Peter Lasker? Do they contribute something to the moral texture of the story and the complexity of relationships and feelings we are asked to share?

12. The book is narrated from an omniscient third-person viewpoint, although perspective does shift from character to character. Do you think the author passes judgment on her characters or does she allow their actions to speak for themselves?

13. In some ways, cities in this book are more than just geographic locations. How would you characterize Los Angeles? New York? Paris? Do people come to resemble the cities in which they live?

14. Race, religion, and—above all—social class are pervasive themes in the novel. How are characters motivated by these factors? Do they affect Dinah’s decision to testify? Is Frank’s Hollywood a place where social barriers are enforced or overcome?

15. The book raises complicated questions about the intersection of the political and the personal. How can political acts shape our personal destinies? And how do our personal needs and choices play into our politics?

For Annie and Valentin

ALSO BY ELIZABETH FRANK

Jackson Pollock
Louise Bogan: A Portrait
Esteban Vicente

E
LIZABETH
F
RANK
won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for her biography
Louise Bogan: A Portrait
. She is also the author of
Jackson Pollock
and
Esteban Vicente
. She has written many articles and book reviews on art and literature for
The New York Times Book Review
,
The New York Times Magazine
, and
Art in America
, among others. She is the Joseph E. Harry Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at Bard College.