SuitabookA year in the life of a total and complete genius
Stacey Matson
- Reading
- Read the opening together if the diary-and-email structure needs orientation, then pause after especially comic or uncomfortable incidents. Near the end, discuss what Arthur has noticed about himself and others, without assuming the ending’s resolution.
- Themes
- Ambition and self-awareness: Arthur sees himself as a genius and pursues recognition through a school writing contest, while the book describes him as cocky and overconfident. The comic treatment appears to invite readers to notice the gap between Arthur’s self-image and his circumstances, while the story also gives his writing ambitions genuine importance.
- Peer and adult relationships: Arthur encounters classmates, a rival or nemesis, teachers and a school-newspaper editor who interfere with or challenge his plans. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Loss and family change: Arthur is described as almost ready to face the recent loss of his mother, alongside his school ambitions and relationships. The loss is clearly part of Arthur’s situation, but the available details do not show whether the treatment is primarily comic, reflective, emotionally intense or resolved.
- Worth knowing
- Consider whether the reader would welcome comedy alongside a character who is cocky, frequently overconfident and sometimes too honest. The central loss may also make the story more emotionally significant than its comic premise suggests.