This reading group guide for The Dirty Book Club includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Lisi Harrison. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

Introduction

M. J. Stark seems to have it all—her dream job as a magazine editor, a sexy doctor boyfriend, and an exciting life in Manhattan—only it’s just an illusion. In reality, she’s still reeling from loneliness after losing her parents and sister. So when a promotion doesn’t go her way and her boyfriend suggests moving out to Pearl Beach, California, to be with him, she jumps at the chance: only to discover that life in California isn’t all beaches and sunshine.

When M.J. finds a mysterious envelope from her elderly neighbor, Gloria, with an invitation to inherit a “dirty book club” started by Gloria and her friends in the 1960s, she and three other women chosen by the original members may just have found a lifeline. As M.J. and the other women bond, each is challenged to rethink her life. Inspired by the women who recruited them, the women in the present-day Dirty Book Club find courage through the power of their burgeoning friendship.

Topics and Questions for Discussion

1. As The Dirty Book Club begins, the narrator tells the reader that for Gloria Golden, “Potluck Fridays weren’t really about making the most of her newly renovated kitchen” (page 3). Why are Potluck Fridays so important to Gloria? Why is she wary to admit the true reason that she looks forward to them? Do you think, as Gloria does, that she “had no business being sour”? Why or why not?

2. In a letter to the next generation of the Dirty Book Club, the founding members write, “A dirty martini will make you admit things to other people, but a dirty book? That will make you admit things to yourself” (page 104). Discuss this statement. What, if anything, do the DBC members discover about themselves as a result of their reading selections? Did you find any of their discoveries particularly shocking? If so, why?

3. Describe the women whom Gloria and her friends choose to carry on the tradition of the Dirty Book Club. Given how different each of the women are from one another, did you think that the DBC would last? Why or why not? Why do you think these particular women were selected by Gloria and her friends?

4. Gloria tells M.J., “[E]very day we’re alive is a special occasion” (page 54). Do you agree with her? What do you think M.J.’s life philosophy is when she first meets Gloria? Compare it with Gloria’s. In what ways are the two women alike? Were you surprised by Gloria’s actions toward M.J.? Which ones and why?

5. Addie defines love as “accepting someone for who they are, not for who they’ll be once you change them” (page 180). How do each of the other women in the Dirty Book Club define love? How would you describe it? Discuss the relationships in The Dirty Book Club. Which ones, if any, exemplify your definition of love?

6. M.J. looks on as Gloria giggles with Liddy and Dotty during Leo’s shiva, “amazed by Gloria’s lightness during such a dark time,” and wonders “[w]ere her friendships that strong, or had her relationship with Leo been that weak?” (page 77). What do you think? Describe Gloria’s friendships with her friends. How have they helped one another get through difficult times? Do you have any friends like Liddy and Dotty? Tell your book club about them.

7. Liddy’s actions lead to the disbanding of the Dirty Book Club in 1987. What does Liddy do that causes the other members to lose the ability to trust her? Were you surprised by their reaction to her disclosure? Do you agree that she betrayed the other members of the book club? Explain your answer.

8. Describe M.J.’s relationship with Dan. Do you think that they were well suited for each other? During an argument, M.J. tells Dan that he “sold me on a life that doesn’t exist” (page 197). Is M.J. right? What kind of life was she expecting in California? What were her reasons for moving there?

9. How do the book selections of the Dirty Book Club aid in your understanding of the club’s participants? Have you read any of the DBC’s selections? If so, what did you think of them?

10. What was your first impression of Addie Oliver? Did you like her? Why or why not? Did your feelings about her change during the course of the novel? If they did, talk with your book club about what made you change your mind.

11. When Marjorie is critical of Gloria for that “‘I can’t confab about Leo’ thing,” Gloria responds that she’s married. Do you agree with Gloria that “being husband and wife . . . is different than going steady in high school” (page 8)? Are Gloria’s friends wrong to expect the same level of intimacy with Gloria now that she’s married? If so, why?

12. At Addie’s party, M.J. reminds herself that Dr. Cohn, her psychologist, has said “recovery was about progress, not perfection” (page 153). Do you agree with Dr. Cohn? Do you think that M.J. is on her way to a full recovery? How has M.J.’s past influenced her current behavior? Did you notice any signs that she was on her way to healing? If so, talk with your book club about them.

13. When M.J. tells Gloria that Dan is her best friend, Gloria’s response is, “Now that’s a problem” (page 65). Discuss Gloria’s statement. Do you agree with her that it’s problematic for Dan to be filling the role of best friend for M.J.? Do you think that a romantic partner can fulfill the same needs as a best friend? Why does Gloria think that the two roles should be separate?

14. Although M.J. “didn’t have to do it all,” she did. “Work was her escape” (page 29). What is M.J. using work to escape from? Do you think her coping mechanism is a healthy one?

15. M.J. views Gayle’s decision about changes in City’s management as a betrayal. Why does she have this perspective? Do you agree with M.J., or do you think that Gayle is genuinely trying to do “what’s best for the magazine” (page 39)? Explain your answer.

Enhance Your Book Club

1. If you haven’t read the Dirty Book Club’s selections, pick one as a group and discuss it at your next book club meeting. Do you have the same reaction to the book as the characters in The Dirty Book Club do? Does reading about their discussions change the experience for you? If so, how?

2. Often an individual’s name has an interesting history. For example, M.J.’s full name is May-June. Like the rest of her family, she was named after her birth month—or birth months. As M.J. tells Dan, “I was born at midnight . on May 31, so they gave me June [as a name], too” (page 43). Discuss the importance of names with your book club. Why did your parents choose to name you as they did? If you have children, do your children’s names have any special significance?

3. Leo bemoans the current state of films, telling M.J., “I was a producer at Paramount for forty-eight years. Back when people who loved films made films” (page 60). Watch some films from Hollywood’s Golden Age with your book club and discuss them. Which films are your favorites? How do these films compare to Hollywood’s current offerings? Do you agree with Leo that movies today simply are not as good as they were during the Golden Age of Hollywood? Why or why not?

To learn more about Lisi Harrison and her YA novels, visit her official site at LisiHarrison.com. You can also follow Lisi Harrison on Instagram at @authorLisiHarrison, Facebook at facebook.com/TheLisiHarrison, or on Twitter at @LisiHarrison for regular updates on her writing and life.

A Conversation with Lisi Harrison

Your young adult novels have been wildly successful. Ten of the books in the Clique series have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. Did you feel any added pressure when writing The Dirty Book Club for it to be a commercial success? If so, what did you do to deal with it?

I felt tremendous pressure. Not necessarily for the DBC to be a commercial success but for it to be considered a legitimate adult read by my peers. I had many stern conversations with myself in the mirror, hoping to combat this neurosis. Those didn’t work. The only thing that helped was imagining that I was writing for my YA audience, the girls who read the Clique. I felt safe with them, like we understood each other, so I’d picture them. It worked. The cool part is that the girls who read my YA series when it was first published are now old enough to read The Dirty Book Club, so technically, I really was writing for them.

Before you were an author, you worked as senior director of series development at MTV. What made you decide to become an author? Were there any skills that you developed in your role at MTV that helped you make the transition to author of a young adult series?

The question should be What made you decide to work for MTV?, because I always wanted to be an author. I just had no idea how to make that happen, so I took the job I was offered. Thankfully, I did. So much of what I experienced and witnessed at MTV informed my YA novels. And since the half-hour shows were divided by long commercial breaks, I was trained to write using cliffhangers, so the audience would want to stay tuned. I was also taught to write in three acts, and that format stayed with me. Is it “proper”? No idea.

Although you’ve written many YA novels, The Dirty Book Club is your first novel for adults. Was the experience different from writing a YA novel? If so, how?

The self-loathing in my head now had a megaphone and it shouted: “EIGHT HOURS FOR ONE PARAGRAPH? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU PEAKED IN 2008. UNPLUG AND GO TO AN ASHRAM. THIS DOESN’T SOUND LIKE THE NOVELS YOU READ. THOSE ARE GOOD. THOSE MAKE SENSE. AND THIS? BEER GOGGLES COULDN’T MAKE THIS ATTRACTIVE. In other words, I was terrified that I wouldn’t be worthy of a seat at the adult table. Now that the novel is done, I realize that it is a huge success. Not because of sales. I am answering these questions in March 2017. The book won’t be out for seven more months, so I have no idea how it will be received. But I finished it. I’m happy with it. I took that megaphone, shoved it up that self-loathing voice’s ass,[*] and then I kept writing. Success, indeed.

Now that you’ve published your first adult novel, is there any guidance you wish you had received prior? What would you like other authors looking to make the transition from YA to adult writing to know? Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

When things get hard, give yourself permission to quit. Yep, I said it. Tell yourself to rest your elbow on the delete key and be done with it. If you do, problem solved. If you don’t, it means you’re writing this because something inside you has decided you have no choice. So shove the megaphone up that self-loathing voice’s ass and carry on. After you do, imagine one person who completely gets you and write just for them. Then trust your future self to make it shine another day.

All the characters in The Dirty Book Club are so vividly described that they seem real. Are they based on anyone in your life? How did you come up with the characters?

The general idea was inspired by my own Dirty Book Club, but the characters are pure fiction. I find real people too limiting because they never do what I say!

Can you tell us about your writing process? Did you know how M.J.’s story was going to end when you began writing The Dirty Book Club?

I always knew how M.J.’s story started and how I wanted it to end. That last chapter was in my head from day one. The rest took years. I must have written the first one hundred pages ten times before I got them right.

You’ve been a proud member of your own Dirty Book Club since 2007. What made your book club decide to make dirty books its focus?

Long story medium: I had moved from New York City to Laguna Beach, California, in 2007, and I didn’t know a single person. I joined a mothers’ group, a bunko group, and a book club, hoping to meet people. And I did. I met very kind people, but what kind? I wanted self-deprecating, full-disclosure, hilarious potty mouths. Then I met Becky and Lisa at a party, we got to talking, and somehow Judy Blume’s 1975 novel Forever came up. We laughed at how dirty it was and how naughty we felt reading it back in the day. I suggested we read it again as adults and then meet to discuss it. We did. They then brought Michele, Kelly, and Shien-Lin, and so it began. . . . We vowed to read a dirty book once a month and then meet to discuss it. And let me tell you, when the subject is sex, you bond pretty quickly.

M.J. and her peers were given fairly detailed instructions from the original Dirty Book Club on how they should proceed. Do you have any advice for readers who are interested in starting a Dirty Book Club of their own?

Keep it very small. No more than six people. You want it to feel intimate and safe.

Is there anything you’ve found particularly rewarding about publishing The Dirty Book Club? If so, what?

Yes, publishing it. I never thought I’d get here.

What would you like readers of The Dirty Book Club to take away from the book?

At its core, this a story about the power of female friendship: a force to be reckoned with.

Are you working on anything now? Can you tell us about it?

I’m working on being patient while my next idea forms and silencing that damn voice.

[*]I could never have said “shoved it up [someone’s] ass” in a YA novel, so that’s a different experience right there.