1. Is Cross informed enough about the rock music scene to make Chartbreaker thoroughly believable, or do you find lapses from needed realism? Discuss with examples from the novel. Supply, if you can, examples from the experiences of actual rock groups you know about.

2. On the Edge and A Map of Nowhere are two novels by Cross. Read one of them and compare it with Chartbreaker in terms of themes.

3. Trace the changes in Finch that take place because of knowing Christie. What effect does he have initially, and how much is Janis Mary really altered? Be sure to include an interpretation of the novel's ending (Chapter 18), when the two appear "joined by the short, strong chain." Does this development mean that Finch and Christie have made peace with each other?

4. Cross employs devices of an interpolated "personal file," an interview...