1. Maeve Brennan is an Irish expatriate commenting on the lives of not just Americans but New Yorkers, doubly an outsider. How do you think this shapes her perspective, commentary, and ultimately what she is trying to communicate to the reader?

2. I noticed that Brennan is seemingly always an observer and never part of the scene she attempts to communicate in her writing. While she may physically exist in the scene, she never directly influences aspects that she observes. Why do you think she does this? What value is gained from observing New York ‘purely’, i.e. as New York not aware that it is being observed, an almost ‘un-self-aware’ entity? Conversely, what kind of value do you think is gained from interaction? Why do you think Brennan abstained?

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