The Miracle will appeal to the majority of readers. It has all the elements of a "good read": a rich cast of characters, multiple plot lines that stir varied emotions, and information about intriguing but not widely known subjects (Bernadette and Lourdes). A discussion group can focus on all of these aspects or concentrate on one.

1. The cast of characters includes persons to like or laugh at, admire or hate, sympathize with or root against.

Which characters stir these emotions?

2. The idea of "poetic justice" is characteristic of popular fiction. It demands that a character's fate at the end of a story be determined by his or her moral worth. Does Wallace dispense poetic justice to his characters?

3. In Wallace's novels the character who is a writer often emerges as the hero or heroine. Is this true of Liz Finch?

4. Popular novels need "an inciting incident...