A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary North American family, The Shipping News shows why Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.

"I am the oldest of five girls. I was born in

Connecticut in 1935, where my mother''s English

ancestors -- farmers, mill workers, inventors, artists --

have lived for 350 years. My father''s Franco-Canadian

grandparents came to New England in the 1860s to

work in the woolen mills. My father was in the textile

business and we moved frequently when I was a child

as he worked his way up the executive ladder. I suspect

my intense and single-minded work habits stem from

his example. My mother is a painter and amateur

naturalist, and from her I learned to see and appreciate

the natural world, to develop an eye for detail, and to

tell a story. There is a strong tradition of oral

storytelling in my mother''s family and, as a child, I

heard thousands of tales and adventures made out of

nothing more substantial than the sight of a man

digging clams, an ant moving a straw, an empty shoe.

"I''ve lived in Vermont for more than three decades,

studies history at the University of Vermont and

Concordia University in Montreal. In hindsight, I

recognize that learning to examine the lives of

individuals against the longue duree of events was

invaluable training for novel-writing.

"There were few teaching jobs in history in the

seventies, and I shifted from academic study to

freelance journalism and for the next 15 years wrote

articles on weather, apples, canoeing, mountain lions,

mice, cuisine, libraries, African beadwork, cider, and

lettuces for dozens of magazines. Whenever I could

squeeze in the time I wrote short stories.

"In 1988, Scribners published a collection of these

stories, Heart Songs and Other Stories. My editor

encouraged me to write a novel, and this first effort

was Postcards. Around the time Heart Songs was

published I made my first trip to Newfoundland.

Rarely have I been so strongly moved by geography as

I was during that first journey up the Great Northern

Peninsula. The harsh climate, the grim history, the

hard lives and the generous, warm characters of the

outport fisherman and their families interested me

deeply. Yet I could also see contemporary civilization

rushing in on the island after its centuries of isolation

and the idea for The Shipping News began to form.

Over the next few years I made nine trips of

Newfoundland, watching, observing, taking notes,

listening. I am keenly interested in situations of

change, both personal and social, and in this book I

wanted to show characters teetering along the

highwires of their lives yet managing to keep their

balance, lives placed against a background of

incomprehensible and massive social change.

"The manuscript was completed several months

before the Canadian government, alarmed at the

decline of the northern cod stock, imposed a fishing

moratorium in Newfoundland. Two years later the

cod have not recovered, but are at the point of

near-extinction. With their disappearance the

Newfoundland fishing economy has collapsed. It is

now generally observed on the island that the old

outport fishing life that sustained Newfoundlanders

for centuries is finished."

Reading Group Discussion Points

Other Books With Reading Group Guides

2. Proulx describes Quoyle as "a great damp loaf of a body." What kind of man is Quoyle? How does Proulx''s sublime, comic style make you feel about him?

3. When Quoyle writes for the Mockingburg Record he never seems to understand the dynamics of journalism, yet in writing "The Shipping News" he transforms The Gammy Bird and eventually becomes managing editor of the paper. Discuss some of the other changes Quoyle experiences from the beginning of the novel to the end.

4. As Quoyle arrives in Newfoundland, he hears much of his family''s past. In fact, there is an old relative, "some kind of fork kin," still alive in Newfoundland. Why does Quoyle avoid Nolan -- seem angry at the old man from the start? Is the reason as simple as Quoyle denying where he came from, especially after learning the details of his father''s relationship with the aunt?

5. Proulx tells us the aunt is a lesbian, yet never makes a specific issue out of the aunt''s sexual orientation. Does this fact add dimension to the story for you? Does it add to the aunt''s character? We, as readers, assume that characters are heterosexual without needing to hear specifically about their sexual life. Does the matter-of-course way Proulx treats the aunt''s sexuality help make the reader a less judgmental critic?

6. Discuss Quoyle''s relationship with Petal Bear. Can you justify his feelings for her? Even after her death, she continues to have a strong hold on him, and her memory threatens to squelch the potential of his feeling for Wavey Prowse. Is this because Quoyle doesn''t understand love without pain? Both Quoyle and Wavey have experienced abusive relationships previously. How do they treat each other?

7. Newfoundland is more than the setting for this story, it is a dreary yet engaging character onto itself. Does the cold weather and the rough life add to your enjoyment of the book?

8. Do you think the chapter headings from The Ashley Book of Knots, The Mariner''s Dictionary, and Quipus and Witches'' Knots add to the atmosphere of the book? Did their humor illustrate some of Proulx''s points, or did they simplify some of her issues? Notice especially the headings for chapters 2, 4, 28, 32, 33, and 34.