Book

Club Kit
PUTNAM
E S T. 1 8 3 8
 Discussion
Questions
1 Robert and Nathan are very
different boys. Why do they like
each other so much?
2 When they set free the kites
on the beach, the boys react in
very different ways.
What do their reactions tell us
about them as characters?
3 Nathan Tillys boundless
gift for hope gave us wings.
What role does hope play in
the novel?
4 The novel begins and ends in
the present, but most of the
action takes place forty years in
the past. Why do you think the
author chose to structure the
story in this way?
5 Both Robert and Nathan suffer
terrible loss during the course
of the book, but of very dif-
ferent kinds. Nathans loss is
sudden and violent; Roberts
is drawn-out and inevitable.
How does the nature of the
loss affect the way each boy
responds to it?
6 Roberts parents have very
different approaches to Liams
illness and, after his death, very
different ways of dealing with
their grief. How much of that
is due to Marys faith, and how
much is due to other things?
7 Why is an amusement park a
good setting for this story?
What associations do you have
with amusement parks. Do you
find those elements represented
in this novel? Did the novel
make you think about parks in
a new or different way?
Book
Club Kit
PUTNAM
E S T. 1 8 3 8
8 As the object of both Nathans
and Roberts desires, Faye is
poised to become the r omantic
heroine of the novel, and
yet she doesnt. How does
the story avoid becoming one
about teenage crushes and
early love?
9 There are many different kinds
of stories in the novel: love
stories, ghost stories, war sto-
ries, and so on. What purpose
do these tales serve? How do
they complement the novels
main story?
10 Did you like the epilogue? Why,
or why not?
 Your new novel, Setting Free the Kites,
SHANE EPPING

is about a lot of things. How would

you describe it?
Set in Maine in the 1970s, the novel tells
the story of two summers that mark the
turning point in the lives of two teen-
agers, Robert Carter and Nathan Tilly.
The boys are temperamentally very dif-
ferentRobert is cautious and reticent,
while Nathan is daring, and an eternal
optimistbut their friendship blos-
soms as they find themselves thrown
together by tragedy. As they each strug-
gle to come to terms with loss, they find
comfort in unexpected things: the blis-
tering crash of rock and roll music, the
mysteries of a long-closed paper mill,
and kites soaring high over a wind-
swept beach. Above all, they discover
the quiet (and sometimes not-so-quiet)
joys of friendship.
The book is about being too old to
believe in ghost stories, but believing
in them anyway. Its about boys who
A Q&A like punk, and girls who like John Den-
WITH
ver. Its about falling in love for the
first time. Its about escaping gravity.

Alex George
Its about love, and loss, andmost of
allits about hope.

You are an Englishmanwhat inspired

you to set this coming-of-age novel in a
AUTHOR OF very American time and place?

Setting Free
I was born in England, but Ive lived in
America (in Columbia, Missouri) for
the last thirteen years and Im now an
American citizen. Though my earlier

the Kites
books were set in England, since Ive
been living here I have, perhaps un-
surprisingly, switched my focus to the
States. America is so huge, complex,
I always knew I was going to set the novel in New Eng land. . . . Book
the beach behind Nathans house plays a critical par t in many Club Kit
important scenes. [Maine is] a state I love, and I think you should PUTNAM
E S T. 1 8 3 8

always write about places you feel strongly about.

and fantastically varied, that its become a rich source of new Its important to invest some of yourself in the place where you
material for me. My last book, A Good American, was about live. Studying for the bar exam felt like thatit was time I was
immigration to this countrya process I had recently been dedicating to my future here. Similarly, I recently began a liter-
through. Setting Free the Kites is about growing up herewhich ary festival in Columbia, the Unbound Book Festival. Its been
is something I have not done. As a result, its been a different a tremendous amount of work, but its been very rewarding. I
kind of challenge, but a very rewarding one nonetheless. look at it as a way of giving something back to this community
that has welcomed me so warmly, and its also a way for me to
What brought you to America to live, work, and write? put down deeper roots in this place that has become my home.
I came to America from London in 2003. At that point I was
married to a Missouri native; we left England to be close to The novel is set in Maine. Why? How did you r esearch
her family into a house with some acreage a few miles outside this locale?
Columbia. There was a log cabin on the land, where I wrote. It I always knew I was going to set the novel in New England,
sounds idyllic, but I soon realized that if I wanted to integrate because originally a lighthouse played a pivotal role in the
meaningfully into my new community, I would have to do story. I was going to set the novel in Rhode Island, but settled
more than just sit at my desk all day, inhabiting my own ficti- on Maine because I know it better. The lighthouse eventu-
tious worlds. So I requalified as an attorney (I had worked for ally disappeared from the plot, but by then the story in my
eight years as a corporate lawyer in London and Paris) and be- head was firmly rooted in Mainethe beach behind Nathans
gan my law firm, which I still run when Im not w
riting books. house plays a critical part in many important scenes. Besides,
its a state I love, and I think you should Nathan is obsessed with defying gravity. Like the
always write about places you feel strong-
kites he and Rober t fly on the beach, he is desperate
ly about. (My next novel is set in Paris.)
Ive been visiting Maine for years. I have to escape his ear thbound existence.
good friends who live there, and my wife
and I try to visit most summersand Liam, who suffers from an incurable few crimes in order to accomplish his
some winters, too. The first time I visited disease. As a consequence, Robert has feat) or the laws of gravity. I couldnt get
Maine I had an unexpected but profound always felt eclipsed by his brother, and him out of my head, and kept wonder-
feeling of having found my way home. I ignored by his parents. He learns to ing whether or not that kind of arrogant,
always sense a deep peace when Im cope by subsuming his own feelings, obsessive behavior would make for an
there. I find it a wonderful place to write. understanding that nobody really has interesting fictional character. That was
Perhaps its just being by the ocean, af- time for them. People dont see him, how Nathan nudged his way into my
ter spending so much time in landlocked and so he becomes a ghost. head. As the book was written, my con-
Missouri. Theres so much to love about Nathan is obsessed with defying grav- ception changed dramatically. Nathans
Mainethe e xtraordinary natural beauty, ity. Like the kites he and Robert fly on principal characteristic, I r ealized as the
of course, but also the rugged, indepen- the beach, he is desperate to escape story developed, was an extraordinary
dent mind-set of most Mainers. I like his earthbound existence. Hes forever ability to remain optimistic in the face
how they see themselves as perhaps a climbing things, looking for ways to get of all evidence to the contrary. Hope is
little different from the rest of the country. off the ground. Robert, of course, is al- what Nathan possesses, great big heav-
As for research, I obviously spent a lot ways left behindhis feet on the ground, ing bucketfuls of it. Although too much
of time there, but I also read books, and literally and metaphoricallybegging hope, as he discovers, can be dangerous.
picked the brains of locals to make sure I Nathan to come back down. It is this
got details correct. Still, I chose to make dynamicirrepressible hope v ersus that Would you say the adults concerns are
up my own town, Haverford, rather than more cautious approach to thingsthat equally important to the story you tell
set the story in a place that actually exists. defines the boys relationship. hereor is it all about these boys on the
Its easier that way: if you make it all up, As for who the characters might be cusp of adulthood?
theres less to get wrong. based onwell, I suppose theres a lot Oh yes, the adults stories are critical to
of Robert in me. As a child, I was very the novel. Parents loom so large over their
Robert and Nathan become fast friends, cautious, and always obeyed the rules. childrens lives, for better or for worse.
but are very different boys. What are (Maybe that happens a little less these What happens to them affects their kids in
they each like? Are they based on any- days.) I didnt have a friend like Nathan a very direct way. I wanted to explore the
one from your own childhood? growing up, although I wish I had. I relationship between the boys and their
Robert, the books narrator, is a cau- got the idea for Nathans character af- parents, particularly through the prism of
tious soul. He is, as we say nowadays, ter watching the documentary Man on the loss that each family suffers over the
risk averse, always scrupulously con- Wire, about Philippe Petit, the French- course of the novel. Family dynamics are
sidering the consequences of his ac- man who walked a tightrope between the endlessly complex, shifting things, even at
tions. Nathan, in contrast, is impetuous Twin Towers in the early 70s. I was fas- the most mundane of times. At moments
and bold. As Robert says of him at one cinated by Petit. He really didnt seem to of crisis and emotional trauma, they be-
point, he knew no fear, only hope. think that the rules that governed every- come infinitely more complexand, in
Roberts whole life has been spent one else applied to himwhether those those moments, people reveal themselves.
in the shadow of his older brother, were man-made laws (he committed a There is much to learn.
 LIAMS Each boys experience of loss and mourning has to be seen in the context
of the larger family picture. Roberts parents in particular deal with Liams

P L AY L I S T illness in very different ways, and this has a crucial impact on the family as
a whole. It also allows Robert to see his parents more clearly than he has
ever done before. Many people believe that a parent-child relationship is
(I Live For) Cars in some ways immutable, but I wanted to explore the contrary view. Chil-
and Girls dren often see their parents as a collective unit, rather than individuals.
by The Dictators Cataclysmic events, though, can strip people bare. Robert learns a great
deal about both of his parentspossibly more than he might have wanted.
I Wanna Be
Your Dog One of the characters has muscular dystrophy. Why did you introduce this
element into the story?
by The Stooges
I read a beautiful essay by Penny Wolfson in the 2002 Best American Es-
says collection, about her sons muscular dystrophy. It was such a strong
Blank Generation
piece that I simply couldnt forget it. I found the book it was extracted
by Richard Hell
from, Moonrise, and devoured it. Then I read other memoirs and books
on the subject. This disease is just heartbreaking. Its so unsparing, so un-
Tutti-Frutti
flinchingly awful, and so cruelly slow to wreak its havoc. I cried as I read
by MC5 these stories, and my novelist radar was pinging like crazy all the time:
anything that moved me so much, I thought, would move my readers, too.
Personality Crisis The disease casts a long, dark shadow over Roberts family. Knowing
by the New York Dolls from an early age that a child will not enjoy a normal life span creates
almost intolerable pressures and tensions, and I wanted to explore those
I Wanna especially, as is the case with Roberts mother, for a devoutly religious per-
Be Sedated son. As a father myself, I struggled to imagine what this kind of tragedy
by the Ramones would do to me and my relationship with the world around me. Everyone
deals with such things in different waysand that in itself can cause more
Blitzkrieg Bop problems. Liams muscular dystrophy puts Roberts family under almost

by the Ramones unimaginable stress; I wanted to examine that and explore how each of
them would survive it.
Now I Wanna
Theres a mongoose in the story named after Philippe Petit, the aerial-
Sniff Some Glue
ist who walked on a wire between the towers of the World Trade Center.
by the Ramones Whats that all about?
As I said earlier, Petit was the original inspiration for Nathans character.
Annies Song Naming Nathans pet mongoose after him was a small way in which I could
by John Denver recognize that. Nathan would be obsessed with Petithis g ravity-defying
act of walking between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center is pre-
Scarborough Fair/ cisely the kind of thing that would captivate him. While Robert shakes his
Canticle head in bafflement that anyone could do anything so dangerous, Nathan
by Simon & Garfunkel is simply enchanted. It never occurs to him to be scared of such a thing.
Central to the story is a run-down I wore the costume. If you turn on a TV to choose jazz CDs and records for him
amusement park. Whats your personal during the summer in central Missouri, to listen to. Watching (and listening)
connection to just such an attraction? you can still see an advertisement fea- as he makes these discoveries is very
Im interested in amusement parks. Ive turing a seven-foot furry shark dancing rewarding for me. But its a two-way
read a lot about them. Theyve been around by the side of a wave pool. Thats me. street. He makes musical discoveries of
for centuries, in various forms. People have Im the guy in the shark suit. his own and shares them with me. He
always enjoyed the collective having of fun, comes home from the record shop with
in public. I find them strange, though: bi- Punk rock plays a role in the novel. stacks of secondhand vinyl from bands
zarre, themed circuses where the visitors Why? Are you a punk rock fan? Ive never heard of, and so now I am
are also the performers. And, frankly, its a Not especially although I have enjoyed learning from him, too. There is such
show that most of us already know by heart. discovering a lot of bands I didnt know joy and excitement in discovering new
One Ferris wheel is much like another. Ev- much about previously. Ive always music, no matter how old you areal-
ery Tilt-A-Whirl is going to make you feel written about music in my books. I though if youre a teenager, it can feel
sick in more or less the same way. But still love music, and I like writing about it. like a matter of life or death. I wanted
people keep going back for more. We stand Apart from the technical challenges of to capture a little bit of that in the book.
in line for hours for the chance to lose our describing one artistic medium in an
lunch on the roller coaster. Thats how entirely different one, Im interested in The novel is being compared to the
desperate we are for fun. the ways that people listen to music. For work of John Irving, Wally Lamb, and
Amusement parks are ripe with con- Liam, his punk records are a source of Nick Hornby. Who has influenced you
tradictions and rich with metaphor. simple, unbridled joy. For Robert, his as a writer?
They sit (not alone, of course) at the relationship with the music is much I read as widely as I canall writers do.
nexus of fond family memory and hard more complicated. In the end, all those Reading is like oxygen. We cant exist
commerce. There is the fluffy, superfi- frenetic songs are both a means of es- without it. In a sense one is influenced
cial, artificial world that the customers cape and a way to remember his brother. by every word one reads. But I have
see, but behind every painted panel is I chose to write about punk because it never sat down at my computer with the
an oil-covered motor, a tangle of electri- wasnt something I knew much about, thought that I wanted to write like this
cal wiresall of it just out of sight, and so I was going on a similar voyage of person or that person; that way lies mad-
waiting to go wrong. The line between discovery as the boys. Punk has its own ness (and probably not a very good book).
fantasy and reality was never thinner. cultural iconography, and it was fun to Anyone with a story to tell, and who
I know of what I speak. For several years research and play with that. The bris- tells it well, is my hero. Joan Didion
I ran the largest outdoor waterpark in tling, chaotic anarchy of some of the wrote, We tell ourselves stories in order
Central Missouri (long story). Soon music is a metaphor for the havoc that to live. There are stories everywhere
after I took over operations there I de- Nathan wreaks on Roberts previously within this book. There are ghost stories,
cided that the park needed a mascot, well-regulated existence. love stories, war stories. There are local
and I commissioned an artist to create My son, who is now fifteen, is a very myths, whispered over childrens pillows,
a cartoon shark. Then I had the thing talented musician. We talk about music and grand, blockbusting novels (of vary-
made into an actual costume. And then all the time, and he frequently asks me ing literary merit). The boys find comfort
in the magical, transformative powers of
these tales. I hope that the readers of
Reading is like oxygen. We cant exist without it. Anyone Setting Free the Kites will find a small es-
with a stor y to tell, and who tells it well, is my hero. cape of their own within its pages.