Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of The Good Good Pig.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
Reading Group Activities
Sy Montgomery writes about Pig Spa, the hours of loving attention she and
her neighbors gave to Christopher Hogwood that were as soothing and therapeutic
for them as well as for the pig. Try your own version of Pig Spa with your own
pets.
Bring pictures of your pets to your next book gathering and discuss how they
have changed your lives.
Investigate volunteering at, or contributing to, local petting zoos or animal
charity operations. Sy Montgomery suggests The Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals or the Rainforest Conservation Fund. What other opportunities
can you find?
Plan a group fundraising activity such as a bake sale, garage sale, car wash, or
bike-a-thon to help local animal shelters. Make sure to involve neighborhood
kids!
Arrange for a representative of an animal care-facility, charity, or the park
service to be a guest speaker at your book club or school.
FOR DISCUSSION
- Did
reading THE GOOD GOOD PIG make you feel differently about your
relationship to animals and the natural world? If you eat meat, for example, did
it make you question that? Or question other aspects of your lifestyle?
- Sy Montgomery writes about the extended interspecies family that coalesces
around THE GOOD GOOD PIG, Christopher Hogwood. If you have a pet or pets, do
you think of the animal as a central part of your family unit, or as a kind of
appendage to it? In what ways does your pet affect the family dynamic?
- Lavishing as much money and attention on any animal as the author did on
Christopher Hogwood is wasteful when there are human beings in need of
assistance. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
📖
Get the full reading guide
Join BookBrowse free to unlock all 14 discussion questions, author background, themes, and more for The Good Good Pig.
Join free — it takes 30 seconds
Already a member? Log in →
- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Ballantine Books.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.