Discuss ways in which the various aspects of the narrative can be seen as evoking and/or manifesting Hank's conscious and/or sub-conscious search for validation, as a human being and as an artist. Factors to consider include his decision to write the screenplay in the first place, his search for the house, his encounters with fans and barflies, his visiting the track, and his growing domestic contentment.

Consider your own creative writing. In what ways have you mined and/or explored past experience for truths to include in your own work? Discuss ways in which creativity is shaped and/or defined by past experience.

Discuss ways in which the novel's primary relationships dramatize its thematic emphasis on the exploitative nature of Hollywood. Consider, for example, the Jon/Hank relationship ... the Jon/Friedman relationship ... the Hank/Bledsoe and Hank/Bowers relationships ... and the Hank...