Everybody's Fool, by Richard Russo

Characters
Townspeople	Officials	Locations
Beryl Peoples - high school English teacher, deceased Clive Jr. – son, started Ultimate Escape Fun Park, then left town when it failed Rub Squeers Bootsie - wife Donald Sullivan “Sully” – Rub’s best friend Will – son Peter – grandson Rub - dog Ruth – Sully’s girlfriend/friend Zach – husband, scavenger Janey – daughter Tina – Janey and Roy’s daughter Roy Purdy – Janey’s ex-husband, ex-con Cora - girlfriend Carl Roebuck – gave Sully and Rub work	Gus Moynihan – mayor Alice – wife Kurt Wright – professor, lived with Alice Douglas “Dougie” Raymer – chief of police Becka – wife, deceased Charice – receptionist Jerome – brother, affair with Becka Miller - officer	Gert’s Salon – near Morrison Arms Gert Morrison Arms – apartment building White Horse Tavern Birdie Hattie’s Diner Ruth Cemetary

For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers are from hardback edition of novel.

1. Discuss Rub’s father.  Why was he so mean to Rub?  What effect did this have on Rub?  His mother told his father in front of Rub, “You’re the reason he’s like this” (page 41).  Given how he treated Rub, why did his mother mourn his death when he was so mean?

2. What did you think about Sully and Rub’s friendship?  Why wasn’t Sully nicer to Rub?  Why did he name his dog “Rub?”

3. Why do you think Becka married Raymer?   Raymer remembered that she had changed everything about him (page 190) including the type of underwear he wore.  

4. Why did the townspeople vote for Raymer for Chief of Police?

5. What did Miss Beryl see in Raymer?  Why was she always giving him books?  On page 19 the author wrote, “The old woman was forever shoving books at him, and while another boy might have considered these gifts encouragement, he had wondered if they might instead be punishment for some misdeed he hadn’t noticed.”

6. On page 330 Raymer thought about the question Miss Beryl always asked him, “Who is this Douglas Raymer?”    Why did she keep asking him that question?

7. Consider Miss Beryl and Sully – why did she like him better than her own son?  Would you like to have had a teacher like Miss Beryl?

8. Early in the book, Raymer wondered, “What made him so vulnerable to the judgements of others… when others got off scot-free” (page 16).  Why was he so self-conscious?

9. On page 147, Raymer was reflecting on the people in the town and thought, “Amazing, when you thought about it, how much of human destiny was mapped out by third grade.”   Do you agree?

10. Consider Kurt Wright, the professor hired by Moynihan.  How was he able to manage and control everyone?

11. Did Roy Purdy stand a chance in life?  Even as a grown man, he could not forget the waitress’ look when he was 12 and eating at a diner with his father, who skipped out on the bill, “Like she could see his whole pitiful life stretched out before her, causing him to ball his hands into fists” (page356).  How did this comment affect him?

12. What lesson had Roy’s father been trying to teach him with the diner incident where he had to eat everything he ordered?  Roy thought, “His father was right: wanting things that weren’t worth wanting or wishing things were different was a waste of time” (page 356).  What did Roy really learn from this experience?

13. What did you think when Doug was struck by lightning at his wife’s grave and developed an alter ego “Dougie?”  Why did the author write this?
14. What did you like about this book?  Was there anything you did not like?  Were there any insights in the human character and experience in the book?  What were you able to connect to in the novel?
15. Discuss the various characters.  Which one did you sympathize with the most?   Were there any you particularly liked or disliked?  Why?
16. This author won the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls.  How does this book compare?  Does it give you a true picture of some slice of American life?

*****

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