1. In the first chapter of the book, we see the main character behaving in ways that are not necessarily likeable. How do we become sympathetic to Neil?

2. What is meant by the title of this book, Diamond Dogs? Who does the title refer to?

3. Neil's ability to play football and his "million dollar arm" provide him with a group identity that serves as a protection for him. It also makes the relationship with his father easier. Despite these advantages Neil quits the football team. Why does he do this? What is it about the accident that triggers his desire to quit?

4. Neil rebels against his father by rejecting the things that his father values such as his own name, Neil, and by embracing the things that his father hates, for example, Nirvana. Why is football the exception?

5. How do Sheriff Garvin's obsessive behaviors affect Neil? How does their shared passion for football relate to this?

6. Describe the conflicted relationships that develop between Burden, Neil, and Sheriff Garvin.

7. After Ian's death, Neil allows himself to become inappropriately intimate with the entire Curtis family. What is his motive for doing this?

8. Sheriff Garvin tells Neil "Like father, like son," which Neil says "scared me more than anything" because Reed's father is an ex-convict. Though this statement is designed to keep Neil away from the Banks family it has the opposite effect. It causes Neil to reform Reed through football and to believe that "a parent could return," as Reed's father did after six years in prison. In this way Reed both terrifies and inspires Neil. How does the accident change this relationship? What is lost? What is gained?

9. How did his mother's leaving affect Neil's relationship with his father? How does it shape them individually?

10. Neil tends to see what he wants to see in regard to his mother. How does his discovery of the truth affect his perception of her?

11. Describe Neil's relationships with women. What purpose does Mary serve for him? For what purpose does he serve her? How do Lenore's actions contribute to Neil's feelings of guilt?