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Discussion Guide
Bewilderment
These book club questions are from the Booker Prizes, for which this novel was on the Fiction shortlist in 2021. A full reading guide can be found here.
Book club questions for Bewilderment by Richard Powers
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
The narrator, Theo, can seem truculent at times. Why do you think this is, and does it make a difference to you as a reader?
In theory, Theo is the father and is guiding his son Robin. But is he, in a way, following him?
Describe how the author evokes the complexities of parenting a non-neurotypical child.
How does the science in the novel affect your understanding of the human characters?
How does Alyssa’s absence influence Theo and Robin’s thinking about death?
Did your ideas about nature evolve as you read this book?
How did you feel at the end?
Bewilderment Book Club Questions PDF
Click here for a printable PDF of the Bewilderment discussion questions