Book Reviews

Book Club Guide for Kings of Broken Things

| Ted Wheeler

KINGS OF BROKEN THINGS

-The opening chapter of Kings of Broken Things focuses on the boys who live in the River Ward of Omaha. Why do you think the book focus so much on the experience of children and adolescents?

-What experiences and memories do you have about living through social justice movements during your lifetime, from the Civil Rights Era to modern day movements like Black Lives Matter? Have you or someone in your family participated in a movement? In what ways is the experience of Americans different after these movements than it was during the Lynching Era depicted in the novel?

-The book includes fictionalized versions of several historical figures, most notably Tom Dennison, Will Brown, and Josie Washburn. Does the inclusion of real historical figures add to the novel’s story? Who do you find more interesting: the characters based on real people or the purely fictional characters? Why do you think that is?

-Which of the locations depicted in the book most caught your attention? Has reading this novel changed how you think about these places in Omaha and their histories? Were you able to locate Clandish Street on the map? (Hint: Clandish Street exists only in the novel.)

-The novel portrays characters who cross invisible borders within Omaha, often going between north and south, east and west. What kinds of conflicts do you see in the novel that are produced by this crossing? How do you see the Great Migration play out in this context?

-Likewise, most of the characters try to cross social borders in ways that produce conflict? Rural vs urban? Native-born vs immigrant? Men’s roles vs women’s roles? What do characters like Jake and Evie have to do in order to transcend these differences?

-Kings of Broken Things is told from the perspective of multiple characters: Karel, Evie, Jake, Tom, and Anna. What do you think of the technique, as compared to having a single perspective? Do you have a favorite of these point-of-view characters?

-Does the history portrayed in the novel change how you think of Omaha? Why or why not? Are you aware of similar instances of “hidden” history in your own town or region?

-What’s your favorite book that’s set in Nebraska?

Bad Faith Reviewed on Ploughshares Blog

| Ted Wheeler

bad-faith_wheelerCheck out this great new review that was posted today on the Ploughshares blog!

Thanks to Denton Loving for his well-considered and spot-on review, and to Ploughshares for publishing it on their blog. (Btw, Ploughshares is currently looking to hire their regular bloggers for 2017. It’s a paid gig!)

Click on over to Ploughshares to read the whole review. Here’s a sample:

One character points out that the Romans believed whoever summoned the Furies “also ended up getting fucked over in the end.” No character in Bad Faith exemplifies that better that Aaron Kleinhardt. A series of heart-in-your-throat moments lead to a startling confrontation when Aaron becomes entangled with Amy, a young woman almost as confused and lonely as Aaron has been.

By anchoring his collection around Aaron Kleinhardt, Wheeler creates subtle connections. The stories feel linked in an understated but solid way, creating a canvas with more depth than any one short story alone could give. Wheeler’s characters are people we know. They are the people who have failed us, as well as the people we have failed. His stories are reminders that few things in this world are completely random. Not luck or grace or pain or violence. Certainly not death or karmic justice.