Questions for Book Club Discussion
- What is the significance of the title? Would you have given the book a different title? If yes, what is your title? How does the cover art make you feel?
- Would you have done what Renée and Will did, taking in a relative who is in recovery? Why or why not?
- Do you think Bobby would have been successful if they had not taken him in? Did it surprise you how much effort it took to get Bobby back into a normal day-to-day lifestyle?
- Do you think the situation for Bobby would have been different if Renée and Will were not of some financial means? How much do financial realities affect recovery success? How does family support affect recovery success?
- What was your favorite passage? What scene was the most pivotal for the book? How do you think the story would have changed had that scene not taken place?
- Renée believes that the shame of addiction causes families to hide it, and that this shame and secrecy hinder recovery. How did feeling ashamed affect Bobby? Affect Renée? How important to Bobby’s success was Renée’s openness with family and friends?
- Renée shares emails and journal entries in her book. What effect does this have on the telling?
- Were there any moments where you disagreed with the choices of any of the people? What would you have done differently
- Bobby needs a community to hold him up. So does Renée. Discuss.
- Do you believe certain cultures make it easy for people to over-indulge?
- How did you feel when reading about the amount of prescription drugs that Bobby had been prescribed while in Rehab?
- The Hodges approached addiction recovery holistically. Why?
- This book is informative, at times heartbreaking, and also inspirational. Do you feel differently about tackling problems in general, having read it?
- What role does faith play in this book?
- How do you feel the experience of caring for Bobby has affected Renée, Renée and Will, her relationship with her brother, and the larger community? Does it change your views on addiction and recovery, especially knowing how big a problem opioid addiction has become?
- What does this memoir say about failure? What does it say about success?
- What do you hope for Bobby?
- An orthopedic surgeon writes in the Afterword, “Pain is the gift no one wants but the problems with no pain are clearly more deadly. Pain serves a purpose.” Discuss this statement. How did having the Afterword enhance your reading of this memoir?
- There are lots of headlines lately that address urgent, pressing concerns. Were you aware of the news about the widespread opioid addiction in this country? Did you learn anything new about opioids and addiction reading this book?
- Why do you read memoirs? What do they provide as a reading experience that general nonfiction or novels do not?
“I am sitting on the back porch of our condo bawling. I just finished Saving Bobby and I am filled with a belief that this 349-page book is the bravest thing I have ever seen in print”
“This story . . . exposes how difficult addiction can be, how it can be found anywhere—rich or poor—and ultimately how it may be overcome.”
Contact Renée to speak with your Book Club