Shuggie Bain: A Novel by Douglas Stuart: Conversation Starters

By dailyBooks

Shuggie Bain: A Novel by Douglas Stuart: Conversation Starters

Shuggie Bain is the debut novel of Scottish author Douglas Stuart. The book received a host of accolades and awards such as the Booker Prize in 2020 for the literary fiction category and was also a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction.
The book is set in the early ’90s and depicts the struggles of the young protagonist Shuggie Bain and his mother Agnes Bain as they try to overcome poverty and the endless suffering surrounding them.

A Brief Look Inside: 
 
EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER
than the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive, 
and the characters and its world still live on. 
Conversation Starters is peppered with questions designed to
bring us beneath the surface of the page
and invite us into the world that lives on. 
 
These questions can be used to create hours of conversation:
 
• Foster a deeper understanding of the book
• Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups
• Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately
• Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before
 
Disclaimer: This book you are about to enjoy is an independent resource to supplement the original book, enhancing your experience. If you have not yet purchased a copy of the original book, please do before purchasing this unofficial Conversation Starters.
 
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Read it on your PC, Mac, iOS or Android smartphone, tablet devices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Daily Books
• Release date: May 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9791220807739

Book preview

Answers

Introducing Shuggie Bain

The book focuses on the lives of the main protagonist, a young boy named Shuggie Bain, and his mother Agnes Bain. His mother separated from her first husband and has been living with her parents for a while. They had two kids named Catherine and Leek.

The author jumps between the present and past to depict important events in Shuggie’s life. The story starts with Shuggie as a 16-year-old teenager who is living alone in Glasgow, Scotland in 1991. Shuggie lives a lowkey life, working at a grocery store and skipping school. He aspires to be a hairdresser but is uncertain if the profession could help him earn enough.

After Shuggie’s brief introduction, the author moves back in time to 1981 where Agnes is now married to her second husband, Big Shug. Shuggie is their biological son who lives with them along with his half-siblings, Catherine and Leek, at Agnes’ parent’s place in Sighthill.

Agnes and Shug are having a rough marriage wherein Shug is largely absent from the family as an important member. He drives a taxi for a living and has many extra-marital affairs. He isn’t very secretive about them either which is a great shame for Agnes especially in front of her parents. She is also largely unhappy about her life at Sighthill that she mostly spends doing daily chores. She longs for some excitement in her life and dreads her future there. Her insecurities coupled with her rocky marriage lead her to turn to