Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

Chapters 1-10

Reading Check

1. Brooklyn (Chapter 1)

2. Mira’s father wanted to become an open-heart surgeon. (Chapter 2)

3. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Chapter 2)

4. Ms. Morrel is given wrong directions in the hope that Mira misses her reading. (Chapter 6)

5. Mira realizes that she holds biases about people based on their race (specifically Black people). (Chapter 9)

6. Brown and specifically Indian superheroes (Chapter 10)

Short Answer

1. Z starts asking about being brown and whether his skin color can change. He also asks whether his dad is afraid of him because he is brown and if it is bad to be brown. Mira worries about these questions because it means Z is learning about racism and that people in America are often racist toward brown people like him. She worries about Z having similar experiences as the ones she had growing up. To be able to answer these questions for Z, Mira consults her friends and husband and looks back on her past and the conversations she had about race growing up. (Chapters 1 and 3)

2. Ms. Morrell tells Mira that she and her parents are Americans and to never let anyone tell her otherwise. Ms. Morrell says this to Mira because she just witnessed an act of covert racism against her. Mira was invited to read her winning essay for the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest but was intentionally given a false address in the hopes that she would miss it after Ms. Morrell sent in a photo of Mira. Ms. Morrell knows this was because Mira is brown, and though Mira is not fully aware of the situation, Ms. Morrell wants her to know she has just as much a place in this country as anyone else. This conversation is significant for Mira. She remembers it even in adulthood, and it serves as a reminder that she and her family belong in America. (Chapter 6)

Chapters 11-18

Reading Check

1. A romantic relationship with a woman in college (Chapter 11)

2. Their struggles in finding a partner (Chapter 13)

3. To become a writer (Chapter 14)

4. He starts reading political messages and asking questions. (Chapter 15)

5. Mira’s parents fall in love for the first time in their long marriage. (Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. People start saying that Trump is not racist and that he is just trying to appeal to Republicans. They also say the left pushed him into it, and some people believe Trump’s win is the result of older people who will be gone soon anyway. People react this way because they have a difficult time admitting the truth to themselves that someone who is openly racist could be elected as their president. They do not want to think of themselves as voting for a racist. (Chapter 18)

2. Mira meets many kinds of people in college, and they all seem to have issues with her. One man expects her to be quiet, another wonders if it is racist to love her skin, and the women she dates do not stick around for long. Mira also dates one man who has a girlfriend already and another who does not understand race issues in America at all. After these experiences, Mira feels like there must be something wrong with her. (Chapter 11)

Chapters 19-22

Reading Check

1. Mira’s parents (Chapter 19)

2. She was rejected because of her skin color. (Chapter 19)

Short Answer

1. Mira’s extended family guilts her into meeting the neuropsychologist. Her uncle is dying of cancer and says he wants her to be taken care of before he dies. Her aunt tries to convince her that a smart girl would accept. Mira also feels jealous of her brother, who recently found love. Agreeing to the date means that Mira is falling into the life her parents expect for her, and she is relieved. (Chapter 19)

2. After Mira is rejected by the neuropsychologist, she meets Jed. They went to the same school from elementary up to high school, and they already have a lot in common as a result. Mira feels she can talk to Jed about anything, and he will not judge her, which is something she has never experienced before. Although she assumes Jed is just using her at first, he proves her wrong quickly. (Chapter 20)

Chapters 23-25

Reading Check

1. Chapter 23 discusses the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which happened in New York.

2. Missing Persons posters (Chapter 24)

3. Terrorists (Chapter 25)

Short Answer

1. After the attacks, people in New York become either more helpful or more suspicious. Racism begins to escalate against brown people. Mira sees a poster of a woman that looks just like her, but it is actually a family friend. Her and an elderly lady cry together thinking of all those lost. (Chapter 24)

2. Mira is spat on, witnesses a couple ask to move away from her at a restaurant, and is sexually assaulted on a subway and told to speak English. Nobody on the subway helps her. Mira tells this lie because she does not want to expose her son to such harsh truths at such a young age. It is also hard for her to discuss it at all. (Chapter 25)

Chapters 26-28

Reading Check

1. Working for Bree writing Bree’s historical novel about a Founding Family (Chapter 26)

2. Bree is racist. (Chapter 26)

3. She’s glad Mira’s children will be fair, but they will go to hell because they will be half Jewish. (Chapter 28)

Short Answer

1. Bree’s secret is that her youngest child died of cancer when she was two years old. It impacts Mira because she saw Bree as a shallow and unempathetic person, so learning this shows a different side of Bree. Mira also looks back on this experience when she has her son. Mira describes Bree as bright and made of sun. (Chapter 26)

2. Mira is East Indian, and Jed is Jewish. Both of their parents expected them to marry within their own ethnicity and warn them of the difficulties that lie ahead for them and their children. Jed is optimistic because he believes the world is changing. (Chapter 27)

Chapters 29-42

Reading Check

1. Weed

2. Some of the guests think Mira is the hired help. (Chapter 31)

3. Jed’s parents decide to vote for Trump; Jed and Mira object, which leads to distance between the two families. (Chapter 30)

4. President Obama (Chapter 32)

5. The last two pages show Z smiling with the night sky in the background. (Chapter 42)

Short Answer

1. Mira and her dad spend time smoking weed together. They laugh, discuss life, and enjoy the beauty of nature. Mira’s dad marvels at technology like Google Earth. Mira and her father realize together that he will not be around to meet Mira’s future children. Five years later, when Z is two years old, he reminds Mira of her dad, and she is reassured that her dad is still with her. (Chapter 20)

2. Mira and her family are on their way to Florida to see Jed’s parents. They have not seen them in a long time because there has been distance since Jed’s parents voted for Trump. Mira is willing to set aside her pride and try to make amends for the sake of Jed and Z, and this symbolizes her hope that people will start to come together again in America. (Chapter 41)