Reading Guide for Devils in the Sugar Shop by Timothy Schaffert
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About Devils in the Sugar Shop
In Devils in the Sugar Shop,Timothy Schaffert dreams a world where mischief courts a creative group of friends, lovers, marrieds, unmarrieds—and a stalker— who are all on the run from that bad demon loneliness. And their paths intersect during one defining night at the cross-roads of life. Among the novel’s gallery of notables: Ashley, a failed novelist whose husband’s fidelity may be no more solid than her book sales; Viv, an artist contemplating the artistic value of a pervert’s grotesque mailings; Deedee, a prosperous and smitten “marital aid” saleswoman who longs for her ex-husband to be her ex-ex-husband; Peach and Plum, twins who own a hip bookstore called Singing Mermaids.
Schaffert’s crackling, popping prose turn oddities into delights as he installs a lively mosaic using Omaha, Nebraska as a blue screen. In the strangest way, Ashley gets the news that her husband is cheating with neurotic Peach, follower of sadistic self-help sage Sybil the Guru. And she confronts him about it in the strangest place.
Viv’s secret necking sessions with Deedee’s prized ex-husband are wearing on her conscience. But it is only through helping the bizarre Mrs. Bloom survive an insane evening that Viv gains a sane perspective.
Deedee sets out on an orgy-crashing mission with a bunch of tipsy ladies looking for further adventure following a Sugar Shop sex-toy party. However, for her it is more than recreation; she actually is on a search for her teen children.
In the most surprising locations, Deedee and the rest find insights about relationships between parents and children and husbands and wives. And Schaffert again proves himself a master of the domestic farce as he fingers the comic contortions people bend into just to reach the rewards of family and companionship.
About the Author
Award-winning writer Timothy Schaffert grew up in Nebraska and weaved his Midwestern roots into material for his outstanding books. In his three published books, he explores heavy realities—adultery, child abandonment, divorce— but frequently makes light of the human condition.
While growing up on a farm in the heartland he observed the broken hearts left by his older siblings’ divorces. “Most of the people in the community where I come from marry young. And often those marriages don’t work,” he says. And watching TV he noticed how Woody Allen movies made comical juggling pins of complicated relationships. A literary mind was being cultivated.
In 1994, he received a master’s of fine arts in creative writing at University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ. After publishing a litany of short works in prestigious journals, he wrote his first novel, The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters, published in 2003. His next book, The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, followed in 2005. His latest work, Devils in the Sugar Shop, is a zany look the problems of a quirky group of arty friends.
Questions for Discussion
1. Is there an overall message in Devils in the Sugar Shop? If so, what is it?
2. Are some parts of the book funny and zany? Which passages are amusing?
3. Which parts are both humorous and sad? Why?
4. What needs are driving the affair between Peach and Troy?
5. Who bears the primary fault for the adulterous relationship? Is it Troy’s responsibility because he has broken his marital vows to Ashley and thus only he is accountable to her? Or is Peach a “home wrecker”?
6. What is going on emotionally between Viv and Zeke? What is motivating their kissing sessions?
7. What could be some of the possible causes for Mrs. Bloom’s mental breakdown? In a way does, Viv save Mrs. Bloom’s life? What would have happened had Viv not intervened?
8. Why is there a rivalry between Peach and Plum? Do they seem closer by the end of the novel? Why or why not?
9. Is Ashley homophobic? What evidence is there for or against that possibility?
10. What sentiments feed the relationship between Viv, Ashley, and Deedee?
11. Do you agree or disagree with Deedee’s idea that “. . . it was impossible to be hip in a youth culture so booby trapped.”
12. What do the drag queens symbolize? What is their role in the story?
13. How would you characterize or define Schaffert’s overall style of writing?
14. In which passages does he use clever titles or names, real and invented, that seem add to the book’s wittiness?
15. What is resolved in the end? What isn’t?
Q&A with Timothy Schaffert
This book, like The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God, takes on family disharmony. Why do you find yourself again focusing on that problem?
There is definitely some family disharmony in “Devils in the Sugar Shop,” but much of that is because of the romantic befuddlement of the characters. They fall in love with the wrong people and out of love with the right people, and some of that waffling results in turmoil among husbands and wives, and among sons and daughters. So I don’t think I was focusing so much on family disharmony as I was on the confusion among indiscreet and deceptive lovers, and the repercussions of that confusion.
Why did you write this novel?
I think, basically, I wanted to write one long raucous cocktail party scene.
What are you hoping the readers will take away from this book?
I’d love it if you just mixed a gin martini in the early evening, put
on some jazz, and enjoyed a few chapters every night for a week or so. I
like the idea of this book being a completely unnecessary indulgence.
There are likely a number of reasons your books are set in Nebraska, including the fact that the state is your home. However, do you think that region of the country has been neglected in literature and popular culture?
Not at all. It’s actually surprising how many contemporary authors are writing about Nebraska--particularly high-profile authors like Richard Powers, whose most recent novel takes place in Kearney, Nebraska. Chris Ware’s last few editions of his Acme Novelty Library comic books/graphic novels have been set in Omaha. Nebraska, I think, is often the go-to place for portraits of isolation and innocence, as well as portraits of violence and discrimination. There’s a lot about the mentality of the place, with its vast openness and small towns and few patches of urban existence, that lends itself to careful examination.
Would you like to see your state represented more often in books and film? Why or why not?
I get a kick out of reading about places I know, whether it’s a town in Nebraska or a neighborhood in New York. And I like seeing movies set in places I recognize. And I think by being portrayed in books and films, a place becomes even more beguiling, even as it becomes more familiar, and it’s cool to think that people who aren’t from here would develop an understanding of the place based on books they’ve read or movies they’ve seen. But I don’t know that I feel the need to see the state represented more often. This is a fairly rich period in the literary heritage of Nebraska--many great writers live here and set their stories here.
Viv seems initially alienated from her friends Ashley’s and Deedee’s domestic situations. Then at the end she exhibits deep connective humanity in rescuing Mrs. Bloom. What prompted your creation of Viv?
Mostly I liked the idea of writing about an artist, particularly an artist torn between the impulse to create pretty pictures and the impulse to make confrontational political commentary. Viv has a lot going on in her head in regards to race and gender and sexuality, but she also wants to look good and to be adored. I don’t think it’s unusual for any kind of artist, or writer for that matter, to feel conflicted between inciting and provoking your viewer or reader and soothing and amusing her.
Why did you take on a black character?
My friend, the artist Wanda Ewing, has a great series of paintings of zaftig black women in classic cheesecake pin-up girl poses, so I stuck one of those paintings on the wall of one of the characters in an early chapter. Then I decided to introduce the artist, but Viv ultimately is nothing like Wanda. Wanda is outgoing and confident, while Viv is a little nervous, a little uncertain. The pin-up girl painting is no longer in the novel, but the work that Viv creates bears some resemblance to Wanda’s work.
What inspired you to make drag queens a part of your ensemble of characters?
They just kind of showed up. I heard about a group of drag queens here in Omaha who do karaoke, and that seemed like just the thing that the book’s last party of the night needed.
The novel is sprinkled with popular culture references. For instance: Fatal Attraction, Wellbutrin, and Rosemary’s Baby. Did you struggle with the possibility that decades from now future readers may not recognize those names? Why or why not?
I don’t give much thought to the readers of the future. If I’m still being read decades from now, I suspect it will be by accident. I liked the idea of characters relating to each other on the basis of the popular culture they shared and remembered, which is the way I relate to people. The music we listen to, the movies we see, the books we read, it’s often what my friends and I talk about. It becomes a frame of reference, a touchstone.
How long of a cultural life span do you expect this novel and your others to have?
In this day and age, if a book can break into the consciousness of the larger public for even a moment, you’ve really accomplished something. A cultural life span of even a heartbeat would be thrilling.
Why do you so frequently make your primary characters women although you
are a man?
I don’t know, really. Women are more introspective? Have more interesting conversations with each other, and richer relationships? Could be all of those things.
Do you think women and men grapple with the same personal issues?
The older I get, the more I recognize that a woman’s experience growing up in this culture, coming of age, growing older, is often radically different from a man’s. Nonetheless, men and women do sometimes grapple with the same issues. And maybe that’s part of the reason I feel drawn to write about women; it gives me an opportunity to try to articulate what those differences and similarities are.
What is your next novel about?
I don’t want to say “I don’t want to say,” because that sounds so self-dramatizing, but, basically, I don’t want to say. Mostly because I’m not entirely sure. I suspect it will be about a group of hopelessly distracted people.
Recommended Reading
The Phantom Limbs of the Rolllow Sisters by Timothy Schaffert
The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God by Timothy Schaffert
Chilly Scenes of Winter by Ann Beatie
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
The Age of Grief by Jane Smiley
Ladder of Time by Anne Tyler
Rabbit at Rest by John Updike