Austin Chapter
Reader's Guide
August 1999
Extra Innings
by Doris Grumbach
- Did you think the title fit the book? Why?
- Grumbach seemed to be trying to change her image from her previous book, in which she was perceived by critics as dour and crabby. Did she succeed with you?
- Since it was presented as a memoir, did it disturb you that she gave so little information about her childhood, her marriage, her feelings, or even her relationship with Sybil?
- Does reading this book make you look forward to being 75? Do you think her gloomy outlook represents a common attitude of people that age?
- She spoke often of going to church services. Did you get the feeling that she was a deeply spiritual person?
- She does have a sense of humor. What was the anecdote that you found most amusing?
- How would you describe her style of writing?
- One of the things women are culturally encouraged to do is to "make-nice"--to falsify the public
expression of our private feelings. May Sarton (as we discovered in our reading of her journal) is a good
example of someone who lays claim to one set of feelings in her public work and expresses an entirely
different set of feelings in her private life. Where does Grumbach fall on this continuum of
truth/falsehood?--Susan
- Our myths, stories, and media have taught to laugh at the "grumpy old man" and to fear the
"witchy/bitchy old crone." How do these cultural teachings get in the way of our response to the
expression of difficult feelings by seniors? How hard is it, for us as readers, to set aside these teachings
and listen to the expression of complaints, sadness, and grief with an open heart? Is it possible for a
writer to tell a true story about aging without being laughed at or feared?--Susan