Cool Machine
Cut along the dashed lines and pass the cards around the table.
What was the first scene or detail that made you settle in and feel at home in the book?
If you could pull up a chair inside Carney's furniture store for an afternoon, what would you want to overhear?
Ray moves between his family life and his other, riskier life. Which world felt more comforting to spend time in, and why?
Whitehead's Harlem feels like a whole neighborhood of neighbors. Did any place in the book remind you of a corner of your own city or a street from your past?
The 1980s texture (music, TV, clothes, headlines) is everywhere in the story. What sensory detail lingered with you the longest?
Carney's family, his kids, his wife, his father-in-law, ground the book. Which family moment moved you or made you smile?
This book cares a lot about what people owe each other, family, friends, the block. Where in the story did you feel that pull most tenderly?
As a farewell to Carney and his world, what did you find yourself wanting to hold onto after you closed the book?