KEEPER AND KID

 Edward Hardy grew up in Ithaca, New York and has an MFA from Cornell. He’s the author of two novels, Keeper and Kid and Geyser Life. His short stories have appeared in over twenty different magazines including: Ploughshares, GQ, Epoch, The New England Review, Witness, Prairie Schooner, Ascent, Boulevard, Yankee and The Quarterly. He has been a newspaper reporter and editor, first for the Burlington Times Union, a weekly north of Boston, and later for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He has also written for The Boston Sunday Globe and other publications. He has taught creative writing at Cornell and Boston College and currently teaches nonfiction writing at Brown. His short fiction has been listed in The Best American Short Stories and he has twice won fiction fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. He lives outside Providence with his wife and two boys.

“Ed Hardy’s voice in Keeper and Kid grabs you and won’t let you go until the very last page. Full of local color, bittersweet characters and a story we can all relate to—the day your past arrives on the doorstep of your present life. Keeper and Kid is a marvel. I dare you. Open this book and try to put it down.” — Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle

“A fine fetching novel with a good heart. Ed Hardy’s hip aphoristic narrator has an awesome range of allusion and metaphor. Even in his most trying moments Keeper is nimble and affecting, a tribute to the author’s endless comic inventiveness.” —Stewart O’Nan, author of Last Night At The Lobster

“Ed Hardy has written a novel that is at once immensely engaging and about the things that matter most: how we love, how we move on, how the past moves with us. Fathers, sons, lovers, ex-lovers, runaway dogs and cats; they’re all here, and when you least expect them. Keeper and Kid is a lovely, wise and surprising book.” —Elizabeth Graver, The Honey Thief

“Keeper and Kid is filled with real feelings that define characters just enough to make them seem real…This is a funny and tragic novel. It’s complex and innocent and simple and knowing. It’s all this…but most of all it’s absolutely unforgettable.” —Tony Buchsbaum, January Magazine

Keeper has an interesting off-beat job. How does it mesh with his personality? How does it work to advance the events in the story?

Keeper’s life is changed overnight. What has he lost?

“I guess I’m not the person I thought I was.” Why does Keeper say this?

Is Leah’s reaction to Leo’s arrival realistic? Does it echo anyone else’s reaction to a new and disturbing situation?

What part do animals play in the story?

Can you relate to Cynthia’s keeping of such a secret? What role do secrets play in the book? What makes people give them up?

What role does Grace play in the story?

Card Night plays a role in the story too. What purposes does it serve?

What is the fascination with The Wilsons? Would you be as intrigued if you were at Card Night?

Both Keeper and Leo are trying to navigate unknown territory where they don’t know the language. Are there places in the book where their voyages truly intersect?

Why do you think Keeper is so bad at asking for help when he needs it?

How does Leo’s book, the one Cynthia made, help Keeper get a handle on who Leo is?

“…it looks like life has flattened out and presto, some completely cool object pops up right in front of you.” Is this in any way an analogy for the story?

How do Keeper’s parents figure into the story? Should they have appeared earlier? Why do you think they didn’t?

The “wooing” of Leah – Keeper’s plan to get her back, did it work in any way?

How are hospitals and injury used to advance the story?

What does the return of Fred foretell?

What does Keeper gain from the upheaval of his life?

Can you think of an alternative ending that would be satisfying?

What do you think these characters will be doing in five years?