In this episode, your hosts, Abbe and Alana, offer a refresher course to prepare you for your discussions, recapping who’s who in this tangled web of characters. Then, author Anthony Marra answers some pressing questions and reads a *very* romantic scene from the book. Happy reading and cheers!
Discussion Questions
- The stories in this collection travel from Leningrad to Siberia and then to Chechnya, from toxic lakes to bucolic hillsides. Was any setting particularly vivid to you?
- How would you describe the feeling of reading these linked stories? When you finished, did it feel like you’d read a novel—or a collection with separate stories that stand-alone?
- A government censor forced to question everything, two brothers lost to each other, a B-list movie star, and an intrepid ballerina—of all the characters in The Tsar of Love and Techno, who did you relate to most? Whose story moved you, and why?
- The action of this collection, and even its cover, centers around the mixtape that Alexei makes for his brother, Kolya. If you had to make a mix for a loved one you might never see again, what would be on it?
Book Club Bites
Whether you’re gathering with a group, or reading solo, try our recommendations for a cocktail and snack that pair perfectly with the book.
