Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How did you feel about Kate as a protagonist? Does the novel prop her up as a model for readers to follow or present her story as a cautionary tale?

2. Max Brooks is best known for his earlier novel World War Z, which blends nonfiction techniques with speculative elements. How does Devolution compare with that work?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. What is your immediate response to an emergency? Do you try to resolve the problem yourself or turn to others for help? How did this affect your impression of Greenloop residents?

2. Share a moment from your life when you demonstrated resilience. Were there moments in this novel that resonated with your experience?

3. How do you define effective leadership? Which of the novel’s characters embody your definition, and how?

4. The novel shows one way that a neighborhood community can become a found family: by bonding over shared adversity. Do you have a similar community in your life? What were the shared experiences that helped you grow closer as a unit?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel presents Greenloop as a sustainable paradise that offers residents the comforts of urban living but remains financially out of reach for most Americans. How does this drive Brooks’s larger critique of sustainability in a capitalist paradigm? Is “sustainability” a viable concept in a profit-driven economy?

2. What is the novel’s position on the human relationship with the environment? Is Brooks suggesting that humanity should stay out of nature entirely, or does he make concessions? What events in the novel demonstrate his underlying message?

3. How does Brooks use the conflict between Greenloop and the Bigfoot clan to represent the challenges surrounding intercommunity relations? Can you relate this to real-world manifestations like international diplomacy or interregional relations?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the novel relies on multiple “found” documents to build its narrative and achieve greater verisimilitude. Evaluate the success of Brooks’s attempt to achieve this effect. Were there moments in the story that stretched your credulity or disengaged you from the narrative?

2. The destruction of Kate’s garden is a turning point in her perception of the Bigfoot clan. Is this moment an extension of Brooks’s thematic commentary on The Folly of Human Ambition? Was Kate foolish to dream of an idyllic future in Greenloop? Why or why not?

3. The novel initially depicts Mostar as a contentious figure, but the community gradually recognizes her as a model of resilience. Discuss how Brooks uses the community’s collective thinking to mediate this transformation. What does this say about the power of perception?

4. Evaluate Brooks’s depiction of the Bigfoots as the novel’s antagonists. At any point, does the novel prompt readers’ sympathy toward the Bigfoots? If not, did you sympathize with them despite the novel’s intentions? Why or why not?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Write a journal entry resolving Kate’s story, imagining what happened to her after the last stand in Greenloop. Do you think the ambiguous ending is more effective, or do you wish for closure on what happened to Kate and Palomino?

2. The novel tries to contextualize the myth of Bigfoot within the real world, allowing for the possibility that it could exist. Choose another cryptid or unexplained phenomenon and write a piece that contextualizes it in the real world. Feel free to use a “found object” format (i.e., a newspaper article, radio interview transcript, or online post) to add greater realism to your piece.