The Corrections

The novel’s title refers to the corrections of the financial market. What other corrections, or attempted corrections, take place in the novel? To what degree do these corrections work?

Chip, the Lamberts’ middle son, escapes to Lithuania on a whim. He experiences a sense of relief and even happiness in doing so, at least at the beginning. Where do you think that his feeling comes from? What about Lithuania—a corrupt, war-torn country—is attractive to him? In what way is his new job as a confidence man a continuation of his previous career projects?

Gary, the Lamberts’ oldest son, is preoccupied with the idea of clinical depression; he constantly monitors himself for symptoms of it, to the point where he very nearly drives himself crazy. What do you think he sees as so shameful about being clinically depressed (or simply sad, or disappointed)? What does his anxiety say about the time and place he lives in?

On the Pleasurelines cruise boat, Enid strikes up a complicated friendship with Sylvia Roth, a woman who has suffered a terrible loss. Sylvia is a minor character whose story is nevertheless a major set piece in the “At Sea” chapter. How does her story reflect on Enid’s situation and story? How does her story reflect the novel’s larger concerns and setting?

Alfred Lambert is a difficult father and husband. He is also very much out of step with his moment, and there is a sense that he was old-fashioned even as a young man. What are some elements of his character and approach to the world that make him so outmoded? In what ways is he an admirable man, as well as a difficult one, to his children?

Chip realizes, while fleeing Lithuania, that the screenplay on which he has been laboring is not a drama but a comedy. The screenplay has always, of course, been unintentionally funny to the reader. What about Chip’s surroundings and circumstances has made him suddenly aware of the screenplay’s comic potential?

Denise is a restless, independent character. She thrives professionally as an adult while being unable to sustain a relationship. What about her Midwestern upbringing do you think has shaped this trajectory? How have her relationships with Don Armour and her father informed her sense of worth and self as an adult?

Of all the Lambert children, it is perhaps Chip who changes the most. He goes from being an irresponsible and largely absent son to a reliable caretaker of his aging parents. What do you think prompts this change in him? Does the novel provide any evidence that he always had these capabilities latent in him?