Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

What were your initial theories about the bookstore’s mysterious customers and the books shelved on the Waybacklist? Did you have any idea what Manutius’s book would be about?

At the heart of the novel is the collision of old, manual technologies and new, digital ones. How do Clay and his friends build a bridge between these two worlds?

The characters remind us that the printed book was once considered an object of technological innovation that caused a certain amount of social panic as well as excitement. How does this compare to the development of e-books or other new technologies?

Clay’s friendship with Neel grants him access to Neel’s financial resources and makes it easier for him to challenge Corvina and the Unbroken Spine. What other kinds of resources does Clay draw on and how is wealth represented in the novel?

While Penumbra tells us that the Unbroken Spine is an international organization, the novel’s action is concentrated in New York and San Francisco, centers of economic and technological wealth. What does this suggest about the distribution of technology around the world? Do you think that the tension between old and new technologies take the same form everywhere

Are Penumbra and his colleagues motivated only by a quest for immortality? If not, what are the other rewards of their labor-intensive work? Can books give their authors immortality?

Do you agree that humanity’s greatest question is: “How do you live forever?”

What do you think Grumble’s role is in the novel? What values does he/she represent and how do they correspond to or challenge the values and/or philosophies of the other organizations represented in the novel?