Ex Utero
Laurie Foos
ISBN:9780156004640
About the book:
Laurie Foos — ”the unholy love child of Franz Kafka and Erica Jong” (Philadelphia Inquirer) — gives us a “wonderfully deranged and stunning” novel (Fay Weldon, Los Angeles Times Book Review) about the hullabaloo that ensues when a woman somehow loses her uterus at the shopping mall.
Discussion Questions:
Q. Rita’s loss of her uterus occurs at the shopping mall and is attributed to her “ambivalent feelings about having children.” Why does she believe she is being punished for her feelings? How are the themes of consumerism and motherhood explored in the novel?
Q. Adele and Lucy experience reproductive mishaps after watching Rita’s appearance on the talk show, “The Nodderman Show.” Why are these two women so profoundly affected? In what way are their responses an act of “sisterhood”?
Q. Many aspects of American life are satirized in this novel, including “The Fruitless Wombs,” a feminist group that chooses Rita as its spokesperson. Would you consider Rita a feminist? How would you define feminism today?
Q. The novel contains many symbols of sexuality and fertility, one of which is the red shoes that all women across the country suddenly want to own. Why do you think sexuality and mother-hood have long been separate issues? How do the red shoes and missing womb illuminate the ways in which sexuality and motherhood are viewed in our society?
