1. Many of the soldiers’ injuries were described in great detail, such as the description of Cosmo’s injuries (11-12). Did you find these descriptions upsetting? What does it say about Adele that she can describe them so casually? 

 

2. Were you surprised by how any of the patients dealt with their life-changing injuries, from Kai’s chocolate binge (23) to Pigeon’s breakdown, not over his missing limbs but over the sudden appearance of love handles around his once-trim torso (214)? 

 

3. Why do you think Adele decided to work so hard to earn her OCS certificate, even though she knew it wouldn’t lead to a promotion or higher salary (156)? Have you ever undertaken a similar project? 

 

4. Cosmo’s antics often frustrated Adele, and he was frequently the subject of staff meetings focused on “bad boy” patients (165). Do you think Adele thought Cosmo was a “bad boy”? How did Cosmo feel about Adele? How can you tell? 

 

5. To help“handle the chaos, we turned everything into an exaggerated joke,” writes Adele of the amputee clinic. Have you ever used humor as a defensive mechanism like the therapists do? Is it ever inappropriate to do so?

 

6. Have you ever tried to help someone who has what Adele calls a victim mentality (192)? Do you agree that people who view themselves as victims cannot be helped by others?

 

7. In the chapter called “The Donor” (221), Adele describes her father’s illness and death, and her role as the donor of the ultimately unsuccessful bone marrow transplant. Why do you think Adele chose to include this part of the story in the book? What insight does it give you into her character you wouldn’t have had without it?

 

8. Adele says the pool employees who helped carry the soldiers up and down the stairs to the pool when the elevator was out were like heroes to her (219). What act of heroism or goodwill stands out the most to you in this book? 

 

9. Following a bout of dreams filled with amputees, Adele believes working at Walter Reed “was changing me” (152). Do you think her time at Walter Reed changed Adele? How so? Were you surprised she decided to stay on as a physical therapist at the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, after declaring at the start of the book it wasn’t her calling (6)?

 

10. When Cosmo tells Adele about his trip to the White House, she notes that many people he encountered probably forgot the country was at war “until they came face to face with Cosmo” (14). Do you feel you were aware of the human costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? How did coming face to face with the characters in this book alter your perceptions or opinions about the wars? 

Run, Don't Walk: The Curious and Chaotic Life of a Physical Therapist Inside Walter Reed Army Medical Center
by Adele Levine

• Publication Date: April 10, 2014
• Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Avery
• ISBN-10: 1583335390
• ISBN-13: 9781583335390