1. There is a continuing public fascination with James Dean as an icon. Does this book extend our understanding of the artist and the man? Can we learn who James Dean might have really been like from novels such as this? Does this book describe an 'authentic' James Dean?

2. Some writers regard Dean as a masochist, and he has been referred to as 'the human ashtray.' Dann does not take this view. Do you think Dean's bisexuality is handled realistically in this novel?

3. Jack Dann has said that The Rebel is about the construction of myths, the creation of history, and the nature of memory. Do you agree or disagree, and if so why?

4. There are a number of sex scenes in this novel. Do you feel they are justified?

5.The author has described The Rebel as a fictional biography of the pop culture of the 50's and 60's. Does The Rebel give the reader a different perspective on the actual past? Were those decades really that different from our own time?

6. What does The Rebel tell us about rewriting history and reinventing oneself?

7. Bobby Kennedy marked the following sentence from Emerson's Essays: "Always do what you are afraid to do." Do you think James Dean would have marked the same passage? Did James Dean and Bobby Kennedy have a lot in common?

8. James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe are described as 'lightbulbs' in The Rebel. What does this mean? Is this a real phenomenon?

9. There has been much controversy about whether Marilyn Monroe committed suicide or was murdered. Does The Rebel shed light on this issue?

10. The author has said that he 'nudged' history in order to shed a different light on our recent past and to gain a deeper understanding of James Dean's personality and potentiality. Do you feel this was justified?

11. If actors Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger could become the President of the United States and Governor of California, respectively, what does this tell us about the cult of fame and actors as icons?

12. What, if anything, does the election of Schwarzenegger tell us about the future of politics and the influence of fame on the electorate? How does The Rebel shed light on this political phenomenon?