All the Ruined Men Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Suicide Among Combat Veterans and our BookBrowse Review of All the Ruined Men.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Bryce Pearson was disfigured by a bomb blast. In "Dead Man's Hand," his face now bears "two puckered lines jagging from his mouth to his neck, another one slicing across his right cheek." In what other ways have soldiers in his squad been ruined by war?
2. Why does Pearson drive Darrell to the recruiting station if he doesn't really want him to enlist? Do you think Pearson made a mistake?
3. Pearson compensates for his disfigurement by confronting the "unblemished public… like a form of combat." In what ways do other veterans from his squad show that they also have not adjusted well to civilian life?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of St. Martin's Press. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.