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WARNER BOOKS OTHER BOOKS BY : David Baldacci, in all countries except in the country MSNBC, Late, Late Show with Tom Snyder, Fox News, of my ancestors, , where I am compelled to pub- C o u rt TV, BBC, and NPR, and I have been featured in lish under a pseudonym. The reason for this require- national and international publications. ment remains unclear to me! My wife and I participate in numerous charities, and I The Simple Tru t h Nearly 20 million copies of my books are in print sit on boards at the Library of Vi rginia, the Multiple R E A D I N G Total Contro l w o r l d w i d e . Sclerosis Society, the Vi rginia Blood Services, and The Wi n n e r Castle Rock Entertainment made Absolute Power Vi rginia Commonwealth University. I also hold various GROUP GUIDE into a major motion picture starring honorary chairs. and . The novel Absolute Power w o n B r i t a i n ’s W.H. Smith’s Thumping Good Read Aw a r d About the author of for fiction in 1997, and was nominated for a literary , award in Italy. D AVID BALDACCI Total Contro l was sold to Columbia TriStar for a I was born in Richmond, Vi rginia, in 1960. I f o u r-hour mini-series to be aired on CBS. The paper- received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from back version of Total Contro l was a bestselling Vi rginia Commonwealth University and a law degree favorite of the traveling public for over one year, from the University of Vi rginia. I practiced law for even though it opens with a plane crash. nine years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial lawyer and a corporate lawyer. The Wi n n e r’s sales topped those of my first two nov- els, no doubt aided by revealing in the novel how to I am married, have two children, and remain in my fix the lottery and win a hundred million dollars! T h e home state, Vi rg i n i a . Wi n n e r received a starred review in P u b l i s h e r s I have published five novels—Absolute Power, We e k l y, its highest rating. Saving Faith, , , a n d The Simple Tru t h was the first of my novels in which The Wi n n e r—and have completed my sixth novel, part of the plot was based upon an actual event. WISH YOU W E L L, scheduled for release October President Clinton selected The Simple Tru t h as his 24, 2000. I have also published a novella for the favorite novel of 1999. Dutch entitled Office Hours, written for Holland’s Year 2000 “Month of the T h r i l l e r.” I was featured Saving Faith is a novel about how Washington really writer for this year’s celebration. d o e s n ’t work, and why so many people are just fine with that. During my research for the novel, I spent My works have also been published in U S A To d a y so much time with politicians that I briefly contem- m a g a z i n e , B r i t a i n ’s Tatler m a g a z i n e , New Statesman, plated running for office, until my wife sensibly put a U VA L a w y e r, I t a l y ’s Panorama magazine, and stop to that nonsense. Saving Faith reached number G e r m a n y ’s Welt am Sonntag. one on the Publishers We e k l y national bestseller list. I have also authored six original, but unproduced, My books have been publicly discussed and/or read AVAILABLE AT LOCAL BOOKSTORES screenplays, the most current of which has nothing to by everyone from Howard Stern and Don Imus to ORDERING INFORMA T I O N do with murder or mayhem. It is a family drama set Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, from Georg e in the South during 1940, and it is the inspiration for Bush and Bill Clinton to Charlie Rose and Larry Copies can also be ordered directly by contacting the my newest novel, WISH YOU W E L L. K i n g . publisher: Warner Books, Special Sales Department, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 My works have been translated into over 30 lan- I am currently working with producers Lee Rich, or call 1-800-222-6747. guages and sold in more than 70 countries, which far Karen Spiegel, and Paramount Television on a televi- Also available as a Time Warner A u d i o B o o kª exceeded my rather modest ambition of becoming a sion mystery series that is being developed in con- and as an eBook short-story writer, content with receiving free copies junction with a television series created by two other of the publication my story appeared in as payment. n o v e l i s t s . All of my books have been national and international bestsellers. I am published under my real name, I have made many television and radio appearances including the To d a y s h o w, CNN, CNNfn, CSPA N , Visit our Web site at www.twbookmark.com © 2000 TIME WARNER TRADE PUBLISHING, INC. PRINTED IN USA Wish You Were R Guide.final 10/27/00 11:00 AM Page 5

READING GUIDE: triumphant story about family and adversity from times 8 . Several scenes in the novel refer to the characters’ 1 9 . The novel deals with prejudice and hatred at the WISH YOU WELL past that resounds forcefully today. WISH YOU W E L L actions and reactions that deal with human life and individual rather than group level. Is that an impor- BY DAVID BALDACCI is a breathtakingly beautiful achievement from an its value. What underlying story or stories do these tant distinction? his guide is designed to enhance your reading author who has the power to make us feel, to make us references create? 2 0 . Southern Valley officials made the argument that experience of WISH YOU W E L L by David care, and to make us believe in the great and little 9 . Children have difficulty sometimes learning to the importance of preserving the mountains should TBaldacci. Whether it is the story of a young miracles that can change lives—or save them. trust others when they have lost a loved one. How not take precedence over using its resources to ensure woman on the run in The Wi n n e r or a violent intrigue and why does Lou come to trust Cotton Longfellow? economic prosperity for people. At what point, if any, convulsing Washington, D.C., in Saving Faith, D a v i d DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: does that argument fail? Baldacci has delivered great stories, authentic charac- 1 0 . Baldacci makes several references to threats to ters, and thought-provoking ideas since he burst on the 1 . B a l d a c c i ’s eloquent use of language in WISH Y O U the land. What are the references and how do the 2 1 . Cotton Longfellow remarks that people often literary scene with Absolute Power. Now this versatile W E L L transforms readers to another time and place— characters react to them? spend much of their lives chasing dreams they know writer sets his sights on a new field of fiction with a time when A m e r i c a ’s agrarian existence was begin- 1 1 . During the early part of the 20th century, will probably never come true, and also that that ten- WISH YOU W E L L. This compelling and touching tale ning to transform into industrialization and a place industrialization claimed various American rural dency may be part of what makes us human. Do you of the human spirit, set in the southwest Vi rg i n i a where the land was the heart and soul of the communi- landscapes for the sake of “economic gain and mod- agree with that statement, and if so, why? mountains, reveals the power of family, endurance, t y. What are Lou and Oz’s first impressions of the ernization.” What affects of industrialization did 2 2 . Lou has great trouble believing that her mother and triumph. southwest Vi rginia mountains? Baldacci express in this novel and how did the will get better, while Oz’s faith never wavers. Do Southwest Vi rginia, 1940. WISH YOU W E L L is the 2 . Louisa Mae Cardinal believed that one must be characters react to them? you believe that the older we get, the less we believe story of Louisa Mae Cardinal, a precocious twelve- willing to listen and learn from the land. How does 1 2 . In the novel, the mountains seem to be living in the possibility of miracles? Is that solely because y e a r-old girl living in the hectic New York City of Louisa Mae help begin this process for Lou and Oz? beings. Why is that important in the overall context of the accumulated failures most suffer in life which 1940 with her acclaimed but sadly underpaid writer What does Louisa Mae mean when she states that the of the story? What point is Baldacci attempting to chip away at the idealism of youth, or is there anoth- f a t h e r, her compassionate mother, and her timid mountains have a lot of secrets? c o n v e y ? er reason? young brother, Oz. For Lou, her family’s financial 3 . Lou and Oz, both, make ultimate sacrifices at the 1 3 . The character of George Davis is, on one level, 2 3 . Diamond never attended school and yet seems to struggles are invisible to her. Instead, she is a daughter wishing well. How does Baldacci use old letters from totally evil. Seen in another light what are some of have a great deal of wisdom about life. From where who idolizes her father and is in love with the art of Jack and Amanda Cardinal to build the characters? his attributes that might be applauded by society do you think he principally draws that wisdom? s t o r y t e l l i n g . What are the underlying meanings attached to the today and what does that say about our priorities and 2 4 . Does living off the land make people more prac- Then, in a single, terrifying moment, Lou’s life is wishing well and the letters? the types of people who are richly rewarded under tical, or are practical people drawn to making a living changed forever, and she and Oz are on a train rolling 4 . Eugene and Diamond shared a unique relationship. our economic system? from the land? What other lessons can be drawn from away from New York and down into the mountains of Why would Eugene permit Diamond to refer to him as 1 4 . What messages about organized religion and your answer to that question? What is Baldacci Vi rginia. There, Lou’s mother will begin a long, slow “Hell No” and be so adamantly opposed to others using faith in God do you find in the novel? attempting to convey with those references? struggle between life and death. And there, Lou and Oz the name? What similarities did the two share that 2 5 . Jack Cardinal wrote about the mountains though will be raised by their remarkable great-grandmother 1 5 . What does the outcome of the trial say about the might have given them a common bond? he never returned to them. Do you think his writing Louisa, Lou’s namesake. legal system in this country? 5 . Social and/or economic poverty was prevalent in the would have been enhanced if he had returned, or do S u d d e n l y, a girl finds herself coming of age in a land- southwest Vi rginia mountains of 1940. What are the 1 6 . Is the courtroom battle at the end of the novel you believe it better that his perspective was from his scape that could not be more foreign to her. On her complex characteristics of Louisa Mae’s “love-hate” simply a fight for land rights or does it have more to youth rather than as an adult? g r e a t - g r a n d m o t h e r’s farm, on the land her father loved do with competing ways of life? relationship with the mountain? How does this aff e c t 2 6 . What do you think is symbolized by the recur- and wrote about, Lou finds her first true friend, learns the assimilation of Lou and Oz to their new environ- 1 7 . The novel makes a distinction between farmers rent screams from the woods when there is danger to lessons in loyalty, tragedy, and redemption; and experi- m e n t ? on the mountain and those people making their living Lou and Oz, and, finally, by the panther scene? ences adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. When a 6 . Injustice prevails in our society, past and present. in the towns. This geographic grounding permeates dark, destructive force encroaches on their new home, 2 7 . Lou and Oz learned much about their family’s What are some examples of injustice in the novel and the perspectives of the inhabitants in the story and Lou and her brother are caught up in another strug- past in the novel. The conveyance of such familial how do they shape the many characters? finds them often at odds. Is there any way to recon- gle—a struggle for justice and survival that will be cile these disparate views? knowledge is a major theme in the story. Do people played out in a crowded Vi rginia courtroom. 7 . Natural resources have always been valuable assets today care about the past as a guidepost to the future? to any geographic setting. In WISH YOU W E L L, what 1 8 . Louisa Mae Cardinal believes she would never Should we place more emphasis on oral histories In WISH YOU W E L L, David Baldacci has written a does the mayor of Dickens mean when he hails that, be as happy anywhere else as on the mountain even and lessons learned from our ancestors? Or is the tale laced with touching passages of rural Vi rg i n i a , “Coal is King?” What connections can be made to though she has never seen any other places. Can such future so different now that the past holds little value imbued with graceful humor, and laden with unforg e t- gaining prosperity through despair? a view be valid and rational, or must one experience for us? table characters. The novel is a heart-wrenching yet other places before one can reach such a conclusion?