DEAD SEXY
A Novel by Kathy Lette
Reading Group Questions and Topics for
Discussion
1. "I''m allergic to marriage," Shelly explains to Kit Kincade,
her computer-picked husband-to-be in the Dateless and
Desperate TV show contest. Yet by the time the limo ride is
over, she has decided to wed this complete stranger. What do you
think made her take such a rash step? What does she mean when she
says her life had hit a minor key? Have you ever felt that way, and
if so, what did you do about it?
2. Discuss the novel as a spoof on today''s reality TV shows.
Why do you think people are willing to go on these programs? What
does the popularity of these shows say about our society?
3. Reviewers of Dead Sexy have hailed Kathy Lette''s
"bitingly sarcastic" prose, "wickedly hilarious" pen, and
"outrageous, irreverent, and screamingly funny" wit. But some have
found her too coarse, raunchy, and over the top. How did you react
to her style of humor? What were some of your favorite
one-liners?
4. What did you think of the "Differences Between the Sexes"
page that precedes each chapter? In what way did they add to or
detract from your pleasure in reading the novel? How much truth do
you think there is in the gender distinctions made in these pages,
or in the clever repartee between Shelly and Kit? Do you think of
the novel as a lighthearted frolic, or as a book with a serious
message beneath its comic surface? Do you enjoy reading books that
are just froth and fun, or do you require deeper layers of meaning?
Why?
5. In Dead Sexy things and people often are not what
they seem to be. Talk about the gap between appearances and reality
as a thread that runs through the novel.
6. From the moment they arrive at the tropical island of Réunion
a role reversal in their approach to sex takes place between Shelly
and Kit. Suddenly she is the lecherous pursuer and he reluctant
prey. How does the role reversal contribute to the humor of the
novel? Do you think there really are distinct "male" and "female"
sexual natures, or do you think they are they culturally
conditioned? Why?
7. Why do you think Shelly, who thinks of herself as a feminist,
is so quick to label Coco a "manizing" floozy? And why, in
contrast, does she bond with Gaby? How is her attitude toward them
influenced by her lust for Kit?
8. How are Shelly''s attitudes toward men and sex influenced by
the unrelenting negative pronouncements of her mother? Why do you
think her mother''s death caused Shelly to put her own life on
hold?
9. How did you react when the plot began twisting and turning,
encompassing civil war, hostage-taking terrorists, a cyclone, a
plane crash, and a volcanic eruption? Does it matter that the
nonstop action is clearly meant to entertain and not to be taken
seriously?
10. At the end of Dead Sexy, Shelly and Kit have
reached a truce in the war between the sexes. What do you think the
chances are for these two very different individuals to create a
happy and lasting union? Or is Kathy Lette''s fun romp proof, as
one reviewer put it, that "opposites attract (even when the
participants are both intelligent)"?