More Like Wrestling: A Novel - Tapa dura

1. The Oakland we see in the novel is a muddle of contradictions: poverty, devastation, cynicism, and a gory drug epidemic, mingled with deep blue lakes, gentle mountains, gorgeous skies, and the lights of San Francisco and Marin twinkling in the distance like a promise. Smith treats this landscape almost as a third central character in the story. What relationship does each sister have with this “character”? Does it change? How does it affect their decisions? 2. The two sisters have very different requirements for inner peace. Paige seems invested in the idea of justice, and often demands a clear delineation between good and bad. She is able to commit facts to memory “as long as they come in the form of a story in which the right people halfway triumph.” Pinch, on the other hand, seems more interested in letting go and smoothing over. She says “Not looking back–that’s still my definition of joy.” How do these differences affect each girl’s relationship with their mother? How do they affect each girl’s role in the gang of friends? Does one attitude seem preferable over the other? Why? 3. Nannah, Gram Liz, Mom, and Pinch and Paige are four generations of women who have experienced abuse, and adopted evasion as a survival skill. Each mother has kicked her own daughter out at a tender age to fend for herself. By the end of the novel, Pinch has convinced herself that this behavior is preferable to the nurturing and petting that Jessica was given by her mother. “Sink or swim...As fast as they can, they make sure we know how to survive, then force us to go for it...That’s love.” Do you think Pinch really believes this? Do you think Nannah, Gram Liz, or Mom regret their actions? 4. When Major melts down, Paige is forced to confront the fact that he has a crack addiction, and that she has no interest in helping him find his way out of it. This is when Paige has her first experience of not being able to see herself in the mirror. What do you think this episode is about? Why doesn’t Paige share this frightening experience with Pinch? 5. “If you’re a dope dealer, you sell for the freedom of the money, the standing, and for what you believe is the standing up,” Pinch says. “I wasn’t going to look down on our crew if they did start moving crack.” As the women in the group realize that more and more money is appearing almost magically among the men, they are paralyzed. While they don’t approve of the dealing, they also recognize “the warped, strengthening sense of purpose” it gives these men who have never had anything to be proud of. What do you think women in this situation should do? At what point does turning a blind eye become what Pinch calls “secondhand selling”? 6. An ongoing question throughout the novel is: when is it time to leave–a person, a place, a situation, a decision? Her mother’s injunction not to leave “at the first sign of trouble” rings in Pinch’s mind, but she asks herself “Do we leave at the second sign of trouble? The eightieth?” Is the question ever answered? Is the answer different for different characters? 7. Why does May allow people to think he had a hand in Jessica’s death? Is it an attempt to bolster a dangerous reputation, or is he trying to protect Jessica’s parents? 8. Why does Smith wait until the very end of the novel to explain the origin of Pinch’s name, and to reveal that Pinch’s childhood trips to the “orthodontist” were actually visits to a counselor? Has Pinch’s self-mutilating impulse subsided by the time we meet her? 9. What is the significance of Paige’s last diary entry, in which she talks to a puppet about running away from home? What lesson was the puppeteer trying to teach Paige by encouraging her to ask a stranger for money? And why do you suppose Pinch felt it important to show Paige’s writing to their mother? What effect does it have on her? 10. It can be argued that Oscar’s love is the only constant in the girls’ lives, outside of their relationship with each other. Where do you see examples of his devotion? Do you think he and Paige will make it as a couple at the end? Has Oscar taught Pinch anything that she will use on her solo adventure? 11. Has Pinch forgiven Paige for nearly drowning her at Diamond Pool? In what ways do they replay the dynamics of that

DANYEL SMITH is a former editor at large for Time Inc. and the former editor in chief of Vibe. She has also written for the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Spin, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and the New York Times. Smith is on the part-time faculty at the New School University and wrote the introduction for the New York Times’ bestseller Tupac Shakur. She lives in Brooklyn but was born and raised in California. Visit her at www.danyelsmith.com.