WellRead’s December 2022 selection was Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson. Wilson has a delightful capacity to create characters who are as peculiar as they are endearing, and to show readers how the bizarre is always lurking just beneath the surface of ordinary life.
Use these discussion questions to engage with the book further, whether in a book club with friends, or just on your own as you digest the story.
Reading questions for Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson:
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Did you find the narrative voice striking?
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What do you think Frankie and Zeke find in each other that summer? What draws them together?
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The response to the poster Frankie and Zeke make is like a pre-internet version of something going viral. Why do you think this happens? What is it about the poster that makes people panic?
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In an interview discussing the novel, Wilson said that "everything functions on a loop—I think I’m done, and then it circles back around and I find some new way that I might want to play around with it" (the phrase from the book actually comes from Wilson's own life). If you're an artist, does this reflect the relationship you have to your own art and its inspirations? And if you're not, discuss whether you think an artist can ever be 'done' with a topic.
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Why do you think Kevin Wilson has chosen to tell the story from Frankie’s perspective as both an adolescent and an adult? How does this shape your relationship with the contents of the text? How would it change if the story was told from only one perspective?
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Do you agree with Zeke when he tells Frankie that they have to take a portion of the blame for what happened to Lyle? What control did they have over what happened? Are artists responsible for the way people respond to their work?
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Is the ending of the book inevitable? Can you imagine it going any other way? How would you describe Frankie’s and Zeke’s respective resolutions?
Please note, these questions were written and distributed in December, 2022.