Eureka Man: A Novel (35 page)

8. What do you think motivated Fat Daddy? Though he
is a vicious rapist and abuser, he shows genuine loyalty and
compassion to Handsome Johnny when Johnny returns to the prison
after being locked away in a mental hospital for seven years. Do
you think one can be a good friend and at the same time a deeply
flawed person? Explain your answer.

9. Discuss the options Oliver may have had in dealing
with the threat from Fat Daddy. Do you think he would have been
justified in carrying out his preemptive strike? Explain.

10. In her keynote address to the graduates,
Professor B.J. Dallet tells them the blues is an integral part of
life, and “when it plays, it tests the quality and arrangement of
our character.” Compare her words with musician Willie Dixon's
definition of the blues: “The blues is truth. You can't make up the
blues, you have to live it.” How does Professor Dallet respond to
the blues in her life? And how does that blues reveal her
character?

11. When the cell door closes on Oliver the first
night he arrives in the training school, he settles his nerves and
revives his hope when he remembers he only has nine months and a
few days before he turns eighteen and is free again. In the final
chapters of the story, he loses hope again when it appears his life
as a scholar is over. Yet in the end, hope appears on the horizon
and he is “as happy as he's ever been.” What do you think is the
source of Oliver's resilience?

12. What stereotypes about prisoners does this story
tend to support? Are there any the story dispels? When considering
your answer, think of any preconceived notions you may have held
about prisoners before reading this book.

13. What stereotypes about prison itself – the
physical environment, setting, and mores – does the story uphold?
Are there any it dispels? Again think of your own preconceived
notions.

Patrick Middleton was born in Washington,
D.C., and grew up in La Plata, Maryland. He has been incarcerated
in Pennsylvania since 1975.

From 1978 to 1990, Middleton was a full-time
student at the University of Pittsburgh and the recipient of
several distinguished fellowships and teaching awards. He graduated
summa cum laude in 1983 and earned his master's degree in language
communications. In 1990, Middleton became the first and only
prisoner in America to earn a doctoral degree in a classroom
setting.

Middleton was an adjunct faculty member at
Villanova University from 2007 to 2010. His nonfiction books
include two teaching manuals—
Introduction to Experimental
Psychology
and
Research Methods
, a self-help
book,
Healing Our Imprisoned Minds,
and a memoir,
Incorrigible. Eureka Man,
a semi-autobiographical work, is
his first novel.