From the start, it is clear that Dylan suffers from some level of addiction and personal turmoil, yet he is also a talented and charismatic musician, and Laura and others are really drawn to him. What is the impression you get from both people about what they are looking for, and why do you think that despite those imbalances Laura tries to make it work?ĥ. When Laura and Dylan start seeing each other, there’s a noticeable difference in their approaches to their relationship and their feelings. How does she change as she continues to settle in?Ĥ.

The setting of Perfect Tunes-New York City’s East Village-is described vividly throughout the opening chapters of the novel, and you can see Laura slowly begin adjusting to life there. Callie and Laura have known each other since high school, and Laura notes that she thinks their friendship might have begun because “Callie had seen that Laura had the potential to be someone whose prettiness and talent burnished Callie’s own.” What tone does this set for their dynamic in the novel, and do you think it is an accurate representation of how and why some friendships begin?ģ. Where were you at twenty-two, and what were your dreams and goals for yourself?Ģ. When the novel opens, Laura is twenty-two years old and has arrived in the East Village, determined to make it as a songwriter and to focus on work and herself. But when the teenager starts asking questions about her father, Laura must confront the past, the future, and her own paths not taken.ġ. Fifteen years later, Laura has built a life for herself in Brooklyn, raising her daughter, Marie. Their relationship is short-lived but changes Laura’s life forever. Before long, she meets Dylan, a talented but troubled musician whose star is on the rise. The novel is set in New York and begins in the early days of the millennium, when Laura has arrived in the East Village, hoping to record her first album.

We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.įunny, wise, and tenderhearted, Perfect Tunes is a story about mothers and daughters, dreams delayed and reclaimed, and the fault lines that exist in our most important relationships. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. This reading group guide for Perfect Tunes includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. It is a delightful and poignant tale of music and motherhood, ambition and compromise-of life, in all its dissonance and harmony. But neither her best friend, now a famous musician who relies on Laura’s songwriting skills, nor her depressed and searching daughter will let her give up on her dreams.įunny, wise, and tenderhearted, Perfect Tunes explores the fault lines in our most important relationships, and asks whether dreams deferred can ever be reclaimed. Laura has built a stable life in Brooklyn that bears little resemblance to the one she envisioned when she left Ohio all those years ago, and she’s taken pains to close the door on what was and what might have been. Their time together is stormy and short-lived-but will reverberate for the rest of Laura’s life.įifteen years later, Laura’s teenage daughter, Marie, is asking questions about her father, questions that Laura does not want to answer. A songwriter with a one-of-a-kind talent, she’s just beginning to book gigs with her beautiful best friend when she falls hard for a troubled but magnetic musician whose star is on the rise. It’s the early days of the new millennium, and Laura has arrived in New York City’s East Village in the hopes of recording her first album. Have you ever wondered what your mother was like before she became your mother, and what she gave up in order to have you? Now I want everyone I know to read this book and talk about it with me.” -ELIF BATUMAN “ Perfect Tunes is mind-blowing….Full of unspeakable insights, or at least I thought they were unspeakable, but there they are. I gulped it down, as will all mothers, New Yorkers, music fans, and lovers of quick-moving novels that are both funny and deep.

“ Perfect Tunes is a zippy and profound story of love, loss, heredity, and parenthood. “ Perfect Tunes is an intoxicating blend of music, love, and family from one of the essential writers of the internet generation.” -STEPHANIE DANLER

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