Ordinary People Resources

Judith welcomes guests to her website so she can share with them what she's been writing—and she's still writing, well into her seventh decade.

Although Beth might be the character we understand the least in the novel, Mary Tyler Moore garnered the highest praise for bringing her to life on the screen.

Twenty years after the publication of Ordinary People, Judith Guest is still being asked about the book. She swears that her personal life is not like that of her characters.

Guest believes her books have such a wide appeal because they are about universal experiences, like death, family issues, and having Mary Tyler Moore as a mother.

In this early interview, Judith Guest says writing shouldn't be "preachy" but should be "uplifting." Did she succeed with Ordinary People?

We don't know what an ice globe lantern is, but Judith Guest loves them. And the exclamation point in the title means ice globe lanterns must be exciting.

Judith Guest talks depression in thirty-five seconds or less, if you fast-forward.

In 2014, Judith Guest was still answering the question "will there be a sequel?" But she says it's done. It's over. Give it up and go home, people. (However, she does have some ideas about what happens after the final page.)

Does the narrator of the Ordinary People audiobook sound as ordinary as you think she should?

Guest doesn't tell us which exact Simon and Garfunkel song Conrad plays on guitar, but you know it's "The Sound of Silence."

Conrad also plays John Denver. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" sounds like his style.

Even though this cover looks like someone drew it with his or her feet, it captures the loss of Buck that haunts the family during the novel.

These promo photos for the movie make the Jarretts seem like your average, everyday, normal, commonplace, conventional, regular suburban family. Hmm, there must be an adjective we missed…