The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Content Warning: The source text includes mentions of suicidal ideation, detailed depictions of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and references to alcohol addiction, disordered eating, and anti-LGBTQ+ bias.

The novel begins with a quote from the singer Björk: “I thought I could organize freedom. How Scandinavian of me” (Epigraph). How does this quote set the tone for the rest of the book? Which themes, if any, does it reflect?

In the car ride home from her campaign launch announcement, Mikey’s mother tells him that went into politics because she believes the world is fundamentally unsafe. Mikey suspects that she experienced a supernatural incursion in her youth, but she won’t share this information. Why is Mikey’s mother so closed-off about the experiences of her youth? How does her reservedness impact Mikey?

Mikey’s grandmother appears twice in the novel, but her appearances serve little relevance to the plot. What is the narrative impact of Mikey’s grandmother’s presence in the book? What does Ness choose to include her, and what does she reveal about the characters around her?