A Single Shot

That’s the question hopefully every reader of the book asks—or will ask—of him-or herself. What would he or she have done had it been them? And I don’t think that any of us can do more than speculate on the answer. Based on what I know about myself and how I think I view the world, I can guess—or hope—I would have reacted one way or another. But without being in that actual moment—in the immediate wake of having fired that single shot (and in John’s particular circumstances)—I can’t know for sure what I would have done. I’ve long suspected—and maybe it comes across in A Single Shot—that only in the most dire circumstances—when one’s back is to the wall, so to speak—does one truly get to know oneself.

What books, music, and art inspire you? What are you reading and listening to right now?

Art that inspires me most—through whatever medium—creates for me characters or scenes so indelible that I’m drawn to know more about them the way I’m drawn to know more about a new person—or stranger—I meet who in some way (often indefinable to me) sparks my interest. In the visual arts I find this most in certain photographs (often black and white) of people in their everyday surroundings or in the best Impressionist paintings that magically ignite my imagination to see a world and story well beyond what is on the canvas. Great blues music (from the pioneers of it up through today’s masters) inspires me in the same way. I spend far more time and money than I care to admit searching for, collecting, and making blues playlists to exercise or mellow out to. The newest one combines cuts from, among others, R. L. Burnside, Odetta, James Blood Ulmer, Otis Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Big Mama Thornton. And on my nightstand right now are two books I’m a ways into: James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce (it doesn’t, in my opinion, measure up to Postman, but few novels do) and The Snow Leopard (a great piece of nature writing by Peter Matthiessen about a trip he took into the Himalayas in the 1970s in search of the elusive snow leopard, but that is about so much more than that).

Questions and topics for discussion

John Moon does much of what he does in A Single Shot because of a sense of obligation—either to the girl he has killed, or to his wife and young son. Do you find Moon to be a moral man? If so, why? If no, why not?

Is there anything about Moon’s decisions or behavior that, if done differently, might change the way you feel about him?

Do you think it’s okay for Moon to poach game when destitute and desperately in need of food to live on?

Moon is presented with a long series of difficult decisions throughout A Single Shot—whether to follow the deer he has been illegally hunting into the woods, whether to fire into the brush, what to do with the body of the girl he has killed, what to do with the money that could change his life, and how to make things right once they begin to go horribly wrong. Reading A Single Shot, were there any particular decisions that struck you as foolish or poorly thought out? If so, do you understand Moon’s reasons for acting the way he did regardless?

If you were in Moon’s shoes, do you think you would have acted differently? If so, where and when in the story? If not, how does this affect your reading of the novel?

6. Given the same skill set as Moon, would you have taken the shot against Waylon that saved Abbie from death, torture, or disfigurement? If so, why? If no, why not?

Is Moon a better man for having pulled the trigger and killed Waylon? Is this death more excusable than the one that opens the novel? Why or why not?

Does Moon’s success at saving Abbie justify the risk he took in firing his weapon?

Did the ending of A Single Shot surprise you? If so, why? If not, why not?

Is Moon right to turn down Nobie’s offer to work for him? Clearly the decision has to do with pride, as the land he would be working used to belong to the Moon household. Does this decision to turn away money honorably earned affect your opinion of how Moon handles the money he has unlawfully obtained? What would you do?

When A Single Shot begins, Moon and his wife, Moira, have already separated, though we experience snippets of their time together in Moon’s many vivid flashbacks. It’s clear that Moon cares deeply for Moira, even though she wishes to end their marriage. Do you accept Moon’s reasoning for why she wants to leave him? Is she right to seek a divorce? Who do you sympathize with more, Moon or Moira?