Part 51 (1/2)

8. Discuss the symbolism of eyes and the connection among characters who lose their sight or suffer some eye injury-Daddo, Eddie, Margaret, Arnold Schuster.

9. Willie flatly claims: ”Money. Love. There's not a problem that isn't created by one or the other. And there's not a problem that can't be solved by one or the other.” Do you agree?

10. At the start of Part Two we learn that Willie is fascinated by the safe ”as an intellectual subject, as an abstract concept.” How does the idea of a safe, of something valuable locked inside something impenetrable, recur throughout the story?

11. What do we learn about Willie through his interactions with Wingy?

12. While at Eastern State, Willie receives an off-the-cuff but elaborate diagnosis from the prison psychiatrist. Do you agree with the doctor? Is he too harsh? Too soft? Is it possible the doctor is the only person who ever sees Willie for what he really is?

13. Do you think Willie is a good person? If so, how to explain his inability to live by society's rules? If not, how to explain his dedication to nonviolence, his love of literature, his genuine empathy for the suffering of others? And if he's a rare mix of both good and bad, did his punishments fit his crimes?

14. Sutton seems struck and slightly bothered by the notion that he's not a hero but an antihero. Which does he seem to you-hero or antihero? Or neither?

15. Willie argues that to live in society, to survive, each of us must take something away from somebody. Each of us must rob. Is he being glib, or does he make a valid point?

16. When Sutton meets Bess's granddaughter, Kate, he provokes her to reveal a different version of his affair with Bess. Does he accept her version or simply ignore it? Which version of the novel's love story do you believe-the one Willie remembers or the one Kate heard from her grandmother? Does the scene with Kate change how you feel about Willie? Does it make him seem delusional, or does it simply raise the idea that there is much about him-and Bess-that we'll never know? Do you agree with Reporter, in the final chapter, when he muses: ”All love is delusional”?

An Interview with J.R. Moehringer.

How did you hear about the story of Willie Sutton, and what made you want to turn it into a novel?

I used to hear about Willie Sutton all the time when I was a boy. My grandfather was fascinated by Sutton, and the fellas who hung out at the corner saloon with my Uncle Charlie spoke about Sutton with a kind of perverse admiration. For them, as for countless Americans, Sutton was a lovable rebel, a gentleman bandit, a kind of Robin Hood. So maybe it's natural that he popped into my head during the global financial meltdown of 2008. As I watched with horror, and anger, the chaos and suffering caused by banks, I thought of this legendary figure who'd dedicated his life to taking down banks. And I thought this would be an interesting time to write a novel about him.

What are the challenges or benefits of writing a novel that is rooted in historical fact? What forms did the research take?