Discussion Questions for "Digging to America" by Anne Tyler

Discussion questions from Random House.

Discussion questions from the All Iowa Reads Committee.

1.    The book’s title has a least two interpretations.  What are they and how do they reflect Tyler’s central concerns?

2.    How does Tyler’s use of humor illuminate the novel for the reader?

3.    How does the shifting point-of-view allow the reader numerous opportunities to understand several of the central characters, adults and children?

4.    Maryam contends that “Americans are larger than life…” and are always “…expanding and edging you out.”  How is this    claim relevant to the events of the novel?

5.    How important is the role food plays in the world Tyler presents?

6.    What does Maryam mean when she refers to the “immigration tango”?

7.    How does the idea of “outsiderness” influence the actions of Maryam and other characters?

8.    How would the knowledge of Iranian politics in, say, the third quarter of the 20th century help a reader understand the attitudes of the Iranian families featured in the novel?

9.    Does the novel celebrate diversity or does it suggest (with G. K. Chesterton) that “being good is wearing nose rings where nose rings are worn”?