El Paso Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, A Quick Tour of the Mexican Revolution and our BookBrowse Review of El Paso.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. When we meet Arthur Shaughnessy, he receives a telegram from his father stating, "See if you can handle it"; when we first meet Pancho Villa, he is musing on the night he witnessed Halley's Comet - a sighting he interpreted as a bad omen. How did these first impressions set the tone for your reading? What did you anticipate?
2. Consider the significance of place: the juxtaposition between cities and countries, the vast landscapes, the wildlife, the extreme weather. How does the setting speak to the greater themes of the novel?
3. The Shaughnessy men make a game out of racing to Mexico, the Colonel by train and Arthur by plane. Later in the novel, they find themselves in a very different race to save the children. What does this irony say about the characters?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Liveright / WW Norton. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.