FAQs
What is this year's first-year book and how do I get a copy?
This year's book for all new students to read over the summer is Colson Whitehead's Apex Hides the Hurt. Free copies will be distributed to entering students at the Summer Advising Days in June.
What activities are associated with the first-year book program?
Well, we expect you to read it over the summer. Think of it as your first college assignment. When you arrive in August, there will be a small group discussion of the book led by a faculty or staff member and including your advising group and peer mentor. There will also be a reading, Q & A, and book-signing by the author.
What's the point of having a first-year book?
The program accomplishes several things: it gives all new students a common experience over the summer; it allows for an intellectual component to be included in student arrival and orientation; and it introduces students to Washington College's tradition of bringing great writers to campus.
In addition to bringing contemporary writers to campus every year, we have a variety of endowed speaker series that bring important figures in politics, environmental studies, international relations, ethics, journalism, history, literary criticism and art history on a regular basis. We hope that you will take advantage of the superb free programming on campus. Colson Whitehead's reading will be your first taste.
Why was this book chosen?
Colson Whitehead is an exciting young writer who has published three novels and a book about New York City. Apex Hides the Hurt is an amusing satire that touches on serious subjects such as our consumer culture, the significance of names and naming, and the role of race in contemporary America. It's a book that is both easy to read and thought provoking. We think it will lead to some very interesting discussions.
Where can I learn more about Colson Whitehead?
Visit his web site at http://www.colsonwhitehead.com/ . It has his lively and very tongue-in-cheek blog, as well as a brief biography and links to some of his articles. A good brief introduction to Whitehead appears at http://www.lectures.org/whitehead.html .
Discussion Questions
"Whitehead's work does what writing should do; it refreshes our sense of the world."
—John Updike, The New Yorker
- What is a nomenclature consultant? What's funny about the job? What sorts of things does our narrator name? What makes a good name for a commercial product? How does the narrator's job allow Whitehead to develop a commentary on consumer culture?
- In this novel about names, pay attention to the names of the characters. What is the narrator's name and how is this significant? What might be the symbolic significance of Goode and Field, Regina Goode, Sterling Winthrop, and Lucky?
- "Some names are keys and open doors. Quincy was one," writes Whitehead's narrator, talking of his college (69). What names are important at Washington College and what do they signify?
- Speaking of names, consider the slogan that becomes the title of this book: "Apex Hides the Hurt." What makes the slogan and the product so popular? How does the story of the Apex slogan comment on race and commercialism in American culture? How does it comment on the state of the narrator and what happens to him in the novel? How does it comment on his final decision on naming the town?
- What is the narrator's "misfortune"? How is his wounded state important to the novel? What other famous literary characters are known for their wounds or injuries?
- While product names are our narrator's specialty, he is hired to deal with place names. What comments does he make about the street names in Winthrop? About town names in general? Consider your own home town—what is the meaning of the town or city's name? of the name of your street?
- What role is played by the hotel bartender and maid in the book? What creates tension between them and the narrator?
- "What did a slave know that we didn't?" our narrator wonders. What does this novel say about slavery and its legacy in America?
- What sorts of historical research does the narrator do and what does that research reveal about how history gets transmitted? In that context, what are the key issues about the naming of the town originally?
- What values do the various alternative names for Winthrop represent? Why does the nomenclature consultant make the choice he does?
- At several points in the novel, the narrator muses about the ideal of the ""true name” (see 170 for example). Similarly, he suggests that most names are a kind of lie. What does he mean by this? What is the ideal of the true name and how would a society of true names function?