Essay Questions

Why does Georgia consider it the ultimate in torture to listen to Uncle Eddie sing in a pub?

Readers who choose to ignore the “Georgia’s Glossary” she conveniently affords at the back of the book do so at their own risk. Many of the mysteries she leaves unanswered in the body text can be sufficiently explained with a quick flip to the back of the book. One of those answers being the reason why she observes that doing physical injury to yourself “would be a small price to pay to avoid Uncle Eddie’s” singing at the pub. What would make such a scene well worth avoiding is partially due to Eddie’s wild appearance, of course, but that much can be gleaned from the narrative. The key issue here is that Eddie’s preference for public vocalizing is a song titled “Agadoo” which she describes in the Glossary as “the worst song ever written.” She also claims it won the Eurovision song contest “which is a competition for the worst songs ever written.” In fact, neither of those claims are technically true though the latter is certainly worthy of debate. It is worth noting that Georgia’s very low opinion of “Agadoo” published in 1999. In 2003, a poll commissioned by Q magazine reached the exact same conclusion.

Who is the Angus of the title?

While Angus is a fairly popular name for boys in Scotland and Georgia is pretty boy-crazy, surprisingly enough Angus is not a boy, but a cat. The family essentially adopted the stray long-haired tabby with yellow eyes and a bottom appetite for food and destruction while vacationing in Scotland’s Loch Lomond. Angus is a huge presence in the story both literally and figurative: a fat cat with a talent for causing trouble. He is only predictable in unpredictability and represents such an uncontrollable force in the lives of the family that Georgia insists he can’t even be termed a pet. It should not take long for the attentive reader to realized that Angus is much more than that: he a metaphor for the whole experience of navigating through the teen years.

What makes Georgia muse that she may be becoming sexually active?

The phrasing here is a bit misleading and off: “I think I may be becoming sexually active” would seem to suggest that the person saying it means they are actively experimenting with physical intimacy. What Georgia really means leans harder toward the psychological bent. She is referring to a transition in the nature and content of her dream world. What prompts this strangely worded bit of self-reflection is a dream that takes a decidedly more mature turn. The dream starts out with her having just the Wimbledon ladies’ singles tennis tournament and the ritualistic acceptance of the trophy and congratulations from a member of the Royal Family.

This would be the type of content normally expected of a young person with its dreams of fame and glory, but it is what happens next in the dream that draws Georgia’s attention. While stripped down to her underwear in the changing room, she is suddenly started by the presence of a shadow figure. This person turns out to be actor Leonard DiCaprio who begins covering her body kisses only to be interrupted someone else entering the private quarters. This turns out to be actor Brad Pitt. George does not mention what happens next, but her explanation that Pitt “joined us” seems indicative enough to explain why George believes she is on the precipice of becoming sexually active.