“Reality TV and Hookers” Makes its Book Club Debut
Since 2008 my friend Bri has been participating in a book club that gathers near Cleveland, Ohio. The group of family members and close friends meet every two to three months and whoever wants to host the discussion gets to pick the book. They read all genres of books which helps expose the club members to different titles that they may not have discovered outside the group. I was truly honored that they chose to read my novel, “Reality TV and Hookers”, at their last meeting on May 14.
Bri asked that I provide some questions for the group to discuss at the meeting. Below is a summary of some of their answers. The book club also came up with some reality TV show ideas of their own.
(If you haven’t already read the book or have not yet finished, you may want to hold off because there are some spoilers.)
1.) What would be your reaction if your brother/best guy friend told you he was dating Carly
Horrified till I got to know her
More paranoid if he had picked Ines vs. picking Carly
The way you wrote her made the reader forget Carly was a stripper-you wrote her really well and the reader felt sympathetic to her
Tell brother/bestie to get a STD test stat; however Jacoby slept with more women, so he would need one also
2.) What would you predict comes of Jacoby and Carly’s relationships after they move back to Arizona? Do they stay together happily or do the underlying issues get the better of them?
She seemed truly happy, so they probably ended up ok
Depends on how jealous he gets
He seems to get bored easy, so they most likely won’t make it
If they do another reality show, they definitely won’t make it
3.) How much do reality shows influence the behavior and values of the people in real life?
Makes people “numb” to major issues; you can see that in the culture of our society today
People are starting to talk like them and pick up a new vernacular; almost like a new social language
The younger generation want to claim labels that are similar in reality shows such as, “the slutty one,” “the mean one,” “the hot one,” etc.
4.) If you were single and given the opportunity, would you go on a dating show?
Depends on the age
Depends on amount of money offer
No, but would be on a Desperate Housewives or game show like Survivor or Amazing Race
Would tend to stay away from MTV shows more so
We also came up with reality show ideas and here were a few:
Real lives of teachers
Dog moms (like show dogs)
Follow a road trip for a group of guys or girls (like a bachelor/bachelorette party) with or without rules (i.e. no sleeping, drink all day, forget about being in a relationship, etc.)
I’m so glad Bri and her friends enjoyed the book. Thanks for checking it out!!