So Long, See You Tomorrow

The narrator asserts that memory is a form of storytelling. What are some of the similarities between a memory and a fictional story? How does this concept relate to the genre of metafiction?

Maxwell focuses on fathers and sons throughout the novel. Read his short story “The Man Who Lost His Father” and compare the depiction of fathers and sons in the story to So Long, See You Tomorrow.

References to Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis appear at the beginning and end of the book. Maxwell said that the Freudian connotations of the real-life murder were part of what intrigued him as a writer. Use the tools of psychoanalytic criticism to conduct a Freudian reading of So Long, See You Tomorrow.

The narrator regrets his failure to speak to Cletus after the murder. In Chapter 2, he says that writing this book is his “way of making amends.” How can the act of writing serve this purpose?

Write an autobiographical fiction based on your own life. How will you balance truth and invention? Should your readers know which parts are real and which are imaginary?

Compare and contrast the characters of Cletus and the narrator. Consider family lives, personalities, and socioeconomic status in your analysis.

Lloyd says that he is a stranger to himself. What does he mean? How does this statement help explain his later actions?

Maxwell writes about a real crime, but the novel would not fit well into the popular true crime genre. What makes this book different than true crime? Should there be ethical requirements when writing about real-life violent crimes? Should victims have special rights to their stories?