Why did Jeff Hobbs, a novelist, write this book as a work of nonfiction?

Hobbs writes in this book that he has published a first novel successfully, but the second floundered. Readers can discuss why the author decided to approach Rob's story as a work of nonfiction, with a few parts like dialog fictionalized, versus a total work of fiction.

Why does Jeff call him Rob, but some of Rob's neighbors call him Shawn?

Students should be encouraged to discuss the role of names in our society. People answer to different names and nicknames. In Rob/Shawn's case, his Yale friends called him Rob while his street friends called him Shawn, a shortened version of his middle name, DeShaun. Readers can also discuss whether they think Rob is more comfortable with one name over the other.

Why did Jeff pick the people he did to interview? What would the book be like if he had chosen different people? Would Rob have chosen different people to represent him?