Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Why is it important that Dandelion Wine takes place in the summer? How might the story have been different if, say, the kids were on Christmas vacation or spring break?
- How does the episodic structure of Dandelion Wine contribute to the narrative as a whole? Do you think Bradbury had other reasons for writing each chapter as a separate short story besides selling them to magazines?
- Do you think there could ever be a real Happiness Machine? Is the Internet as close as we'll ever get?
- We're pretty close to combining man and machine these days. In 2011, University of Pittsburgh scientist Andrew Schwartz taught two rhesus monkeys to feed themselves with robotic arms they moved using electrodes implanted in their brains. If you were missing a limb and suddenly got a prosthetic one you could control with your thoughts, do you think it would make you happier? Is it possible that our own bodies could ever become Happiness Machines?
- Ray Bradbury is known as a master of fantasy stories. Dandelion Wine, however, is a full-on nostalgia trip. Can our memories of childhood be the greatest fantasy of all?
- When Colonel Freeleigh dies, Doug says that all the characters in his stories died with him. Musician Laurie Anderson says, "Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories." How might today's technology have helped prevent the deaths of Colonel Freeleigh's characters?
- Does Lavinia Nebbs really kill The Lonely One?
- What was in Mr. Jonas's bottles?
- How much does Dandelion Wine require you to suspend disbelief? What are the major points at which the story veers into fantasy, and do you think any of them go too far?
- What challenges do the forthcoming fall and winter present for Doug? How might his newfound awareness that he's alive affect his life at school?