Playground: A Novel

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of mental illness and illness or death.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Playground has a complex narrative that interweaves topics including technology, environmentalism, memory, and loss. Which aspect of the novel affected you most deeply, and why?

2. In what ways does Playground compare to Powers’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Overstory, particularly in its exploration of environmental themes and human connection? Does it remind you of other recent novels that address similar issues?

3. The novel uses a nonlinear narrative structure that intersperses Todd’s first-person memories throughout a broader third-person story that the novel later reveals is AI-generated. How did this approach and revelation affect your reading experience?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Playing games like chess and Go is central to Todd and Rafi’s friendship. Have competitive activities ever played a role in your important relationships?

2. Rafi and Todd both carry guilt. Have you ever felt guilty about something, and did that guilt influence your decisions in any way? 

3.