- This book was published in 1976. Is it still relatable today?
- What is the significance of the book's title? What does it mean to be an ordinary person? Are the Jarretts "ordinary"?
- Do you know a family like the Jarrett family? If so, how?
- Judith Guest is female, yet her novel features two male protagonists. Does she accurately capture the male perspective? Why does she choose to tell her story using two men, instead of using Beth's point of view? How might the story have been different if it had been written by a man? Would it be different?
- Because we never get Beth's perspective, she is a difficult character to understand. How would you describe her? Do you sympathize with her? How would you feel if she were your mother?
- Why does the book begin where it does? Why does Guest never show us the Jarrett family while Buck was alive, aside from in flashbacks?
- Does the book's epilogue provide closure, or do you wish there were more to the story? What do you think the lives of the characters might look like after the final page?