We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Lionel Shriver
First Published: 2003
10 Copies & Reading Guide
Eva never really wanted to be a mother—and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin’s horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklyn. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.
Reading Guide:
Reading Group Guides – Includes Book Info, an Excerpt, and Discussion Questions
Reviews:
The Guardian (UK) – “Not Mad About the Boy” by Sarah A Smith
The Independent (UK) – “Review” by Lisa Gee
Kirkus’ Reviews – Reviewed on March 1, 2003
On the Web:
ft.com/arts & life – “Perfectly Flawed” by Lionel Shriver
The Guardian (UK) - “Lionel Shriver Talks About Kevin” by Lionel Shriver
Bomb Magazine – Interview with Lionel Shriver by Jenefer Shute (2005)
Identity Theory – Interview with Lionel Shriver by Robert Birnbaum (2003)
More by Lionel Shriver:
The Post-Birthday World
So Much for That
If you liked We Need to Talk About Kevin, you might enjoy:
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Columbine by Dave Cullen
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
