This reading group guide for The Walk includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Richard Paul Evans. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

Introduction

Life is good for Alan Christoffersen. He has a beautiful wife, a great house and is head of a growing company, but all at once, Alan’s life changes permanently and irrevocably – he loses his family and job. Now completely on this own, Alan must figure out how to pick up the pieces and move on. He starts with a simple step, quite literally: he decides to go for a walk across America.

Discussion Questions

1. The author writes in the style of a diary. Do you enjoy this style of writing? Didit help you relate to the characters? Did you think it made the story stronger or weaker?

2. At the outset, Alan’s life seems to be perfect. However, in the prologue he makes it clear things don’t work out as he imagined. How did this admission and foreshadowing affect your reading?

3. At the start of chapter three the author tells us “procrastination is the thief of dreams” (31). Is this a true statement? How does that philosophy relate to Alan’s life? Is see more