READING  GROUP  GUIDE  About  the  book:   One  of  the  most  anticipated  debut  novels  of  2014,  Cutting  Teeth  takes  place  one  late-­‐summer  weekend  as  a  group  of  thirty-­‐something  couples  gather  at  a  shabby  beach  house  on  Long  Island,  their  young  children  in  tow.    Nicole,  the  hostess,  struggles  to  keep  her  OCD  behaviors  unnoticed.  Stay-­‐at-­‐home  dad  Rip  grapples  with  the  reality  that  his  careerist  wife  will  likely  deny  him  a  second  child,  forcing  him  to  disrupt  the  life  he  loves.  Allie,  one  half  of  a  two-­‐mom  family,  can't  stop  imagining  ditching  her  wife  and  kids  in  favor  of  her  art.  Tiffany,  comfortable  with  her  amazing  body  but  not  so  comfortable  in  the  upper-­‐middle  class  world  the  other  characters  were  born  into,  flirts  dangerously,  and  spars  with  her  best  friend  Leigh,  a  blue  blood  secretly  facing  financial  ruin  and  dependent  on  the  magical  Tibetan  nanny  everyone  else  covets.  Throughout  the  weekend,  conflicts  intensify  and  painful  truths  surface.  Friendships  and  alliances  crack,  forcing  the  house  party  to  confront  a  new  order.    Cutting  Teeth  is  about  the  complex  dilemmas  of  early  midlife—the  vicissitudes  of  friendship,  of  romantic  and  familial  love,  and  of  sex.  It’s  about  class  tension,  status  hunger,  and  the  unease  of  being  in  possession  of  life's  greatest  bounty  while  still  wondering,  is  this  as  good  as  it  gets?  And,  perhaps  most  of  all,  Julia  Fierro’s  warm  and  unpretentious  debut  explores  the  all-­‐consuming  love  we  feel  for  those  we  need  most,  and  the  sacrifice  and  compromise  that  underpins  that  love.      

Discussion  Questions  

1. Many  of  the  characters  in  the  novel  keep  substantial  secrets  from  one  another  for  a  variety  of  reasons.  Whose  do  you  think  is  the  most  damaging,  and  why?    

2. Which  of  the  characters’  storylines  were  you  most  interested  in  reading,  and  resonated  with  you  most?  Why?    

Cutting  Teeth  Julia  Fierro  

 

ISBN:  978-­‐1-­‐250-­‐04202-­‐6*  Hardcover  *  St.  Martin’s  Press  *  May  2014  

3. Which  character’s  central  dilemma  evoked  the  most  sympathy  from  you?  Why?    

4. Nicole  conceals  her  anxiety  because  she  is  afraid  it  will  make  her  seem  “crazy”  and  because  she  feels  ashamed.  Do  you  think,  in  spite  of  widespread  knowledge  today  about  depression  and  anxiety,  particularly  postpartum  depression,  there  is  still  a  stigma?    

5. The  epigraph  to  the  novel  is:  Parents  are  the  bones  on  which  children  cut  their  teeth.  How  does  this  relate  to  Cutting  Teeth,  and  do  you  think  it  applies  to  more  than  one  character?    

6. Who  is  more  of  an  outsider  from  among  the  group:  Tiffany  or  Samten  or  Rip?  Why?    

7. Do  you  think  the  difference  between  being  a  stay-­‐at-­‐home  mom  or  a  mother  with  a  career  outside  the  home  still  creates  barriers  between  women?  Have  you  witnessed  mothers  judging  others  mothers  (and  themselves)  for  these  choices?    

8. What  was  your  interpretation  of  Leigh’s  feelings  for  Tiffany?  Of  Tiffany’s  feelings  for  Leigh?    

9. Do  you  think  Leigh  and  Tiffany’s  friendship  might  have  evolved  differently  in  a  pre-­‐cell  phone  era?    

10. Do  you  think  the  dynamics  of  the  romantic  partnerships  in  the  book  are  unique  to  contemporary  times?  How  might  they  have  manifested  in  an  earlier  generation?    

11. What  character  were  you  “rooting”  for  the  most?    

12. Who  is  the  “best”  parent  among  the  group  and  why?  Who  is  the  worst?  Why?    

13. If  Hank  was  your  child,  would  allow  him  his  princess  dress?    

14. Should  Susanna  and  Allie  stay  together?    

15. Agree  or  disagree:  Parenthood,  the  way  adults  now  generally  relate  to  their  children,  insofar  as  it  is  depicted  in  Cutting  Teeth,  has  evolved  in  a  positive  way    

16. Who  committed  the  worst  “crime”  in  the  book?  Why?  Whose  “bad  behavior”  is  most  justifiable  and  why?    

17. Cutting  Teeth  compares  the  characters’  expectations  for  their  mid-­‐life  experience  with  the  reality  of  their  day-­‐to-­‐day  lives?  Do  you  feel  your  life  is  well  balanced  right  now,  and  does  it  match  the  expectations  your  younger  self  had  ten  years  ago?  Why  or  why  not?  Do  you  think  those  closest  to  you  would  be  surprised  at  the  way  you’d  answer  that  question?  

 

About  the  author:  

JULIA  FIERRO  is  the  founder  of  The  Sackett  Street  Writers’  Workshop,  which  has  been  a  creative  home  to  over  2000  writers  since  2002.  A  graduate  of  the  Iowa  Writers’  Workshop,  where  she  was  a  Teaching-­‐Writing  Fellow,  her  writing  has  appeared  in  Guernica,  The  Millions,  Flavorwire,  and  other  publications,  and  she  has  been  profiled  in  The L  Magazine,  Brooklyn  Magazine,  The  Observer and  The  Economist.  She  lives  in  Brooklyn  with  her  husband  and  their  two  children.  

 

 

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