Hell of a Book

Soot/The Kid and the narrator share a lot in common, to the point that the novel teases the possibility that they are the same person but refuses to confirm this definitively. Identify the different qualities and experiences that they share. Why do you think Mott still leaves the connection between the two characters ambiguous?

Hell of a Book provides a commentary on anti-Black police violence against Black men. However, it leaves Black women largely on the sidelines. How might the novel’s socio-political commentary have been different if it highlighted the roles of Black women?

Because of a condition that blurs the lines between imagination and reality, the narrator struggles with maintaining his mental health. This element of psychological instability appears as “madness” in the novel’s subtitle as well. What do you think is affecting the narrator’s mental health in Hell of a Book and why? What is the broader metaphorical significance of “madness” in the novel?

Racial conflict and self-hatred are key elements in Hell of a Book. What commentary is the novel making about race itself? How does it make that commentary? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Each chapter is marked with the silhouetted profile of a boy or a man, rather than a page number. What effect does this aesthetic and formal choice have on the reading experience of the novel? How might it tie back into the narrative itself?

Hell of a Book takes place in multiple cities across the United States, between Soot’s/the narrator’s hometown of Bolton and the many places the narrator visits on his book tour. How does the lack of a stable setting affect the narrative?

In some scenes, the line between reality and the narrator’s imagination are blurrier than in others. Identify one or two passages where the lines are particularly blurry and analyze how Mott uses this disorientation to complement the narrative.

In Chapter 16, we learn that Soot’s bully Tyrone Greene is also his cousin. Though they are family, they are very different. Compare and contrast the two characters and analyze what each character illuminates about the other.