Cozy night
Devil On My ShoulderBook club questions, food & host guide
Alice Cooper with Daniel Richler
#5 New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller
1 week on the list
A cozy book club night for Devil On My Shoulder by Alice Cooper with Daniel Richler. Includes 8 spoiler-free discussion questions, food and drink pairings, a playlist, and a host guide, ready to print and share.
A club that likes memoirs with a beating heart, and would rather share stories than dissect chapters
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Alice Cooper, the man who invented shock rock, sets the stage makeup aside and talks honestly about addiction, faith, family, and the long work of getting well. It is a surprisingly tender memoir hiding inside a famously theatrical life.
Why it works for clubs
- The gap between the stage persona and the private man gives everyone something to talk about
- Addiction and recovery are treated with candor, which invites gentle personal sharing
- Rock history, humor, and name-drop stories keep the mood from getting heavy
- Faith, marriage, and second chances land differently for every reader in the room
Reading level
Easy
Warm-up questions
- 1 Before you opened this book, what was your mental picture of Alice Cooper? Share the first image or song that came to mind.
- 2 Was there a moment early on where you thought, oh, I like this guy more than I expected to? What did it?
Digging in
- 1 The book lives in the space between Alice the character and the man who takes the makeup off. Which of those two did you find yourself rooting for, and did that feeling surprise you?
- 2 Memoirs about addiction can feel like a confession or like a conversation. Which did this one feel like to you, and did that make it easier or harder to sit with?
- 3 He writes from inside a world of tour buses, late nights, and constant noise. What did you find yourself craving on his behalf while reading? Quiet, home, a friend, something else?
- 4 Faith and family thread through the book quietly rather than loudly. Did that gentleness feel earned to you, and has anything in your own life been held together by something that understated?
Going deep
- 1 Without giving anything away, there is a point where the tone of the book shifts from surviving to living. When did you feel that turn happening, and what did it stir up in you?
- 2 He is generous about the people who stayed. If you were writing your own chapter of thanks, who would be in it, and what would you want them to know you noticed?
On the table
Phoenix-style green chile cheeseburger sliders
A nod to the Arizona desert he has always called home, served small and messy so nobody has to be polite about it.
Backstage snack board, pretzels, salted nuts, red licorice, cheese cubes, and grapes
A sweet, funny tribute to the rock-and-roll dressing room, scaled down to coffee-table grazing.
Warm skillet apple crisp with vanilla ice cream
The comfort of a kitchen and a family table, which is exactly where the hopeful half of this story lives.
To sip
Hot spiced apple cider with a cinnamon stick
No alcohol
Nonalcoholic and intentionally so, warm in the hands and a quiet nod to a book about choosing the sober road.
Diner-style bottomless coffee with real cream
No alcohol
The drink of late nights, long talks, and recovery meetings, and the easiest thing to keep refilling.
A single glass of red wine, poured small
For anyone who wants one, offered without ceremony and with zero pressure, which suits a book about knowing your own limits.
Theatrical rock turned down to lamplight, swaggering songs played soft enough to talk over.
Tap a track to play it. Full songs play when you're signed into Spotify.
Run of show
7:00
Door, blanket, mug
Hand everyone a warm drink before they take their coat off. Cider on the stove, coffee on the counter, nothing to decide.
7:15
First impressions circle
Run the two warm-up questions while people graze the snack board. No notes, no turns in order, just talking.
7:40
Sliders and the stage persona
Serve the sliders, then move into the theme questions about Alice the character versus the man.
8:10
The soft middle
Turn the playlist down a notch. These are the questions about home, faith, and the people who stayed. Let silences sit.
8:35
Crisp, ice cream, and the deep two
Dessert out of the skillet, then the two deeper questions. Warm food makes honest answers easier.
9:05
Trivia, scorecards, and leftovers
Lighten the landing with trivia, fill out scorecards, send people home with a bookmark and a container of crisp.
Host tips
- Say out loud at the start that nobody has to share anything personal. A book about addiction will touch some people in the room more than others, and permission to pass is the kindest thing you can offer.
- Keep the lights low and the music lower. Lamps, not overheads. People open up at about 40 percent brightness.
- Have one or two of his softer ballads queued for the quiet stretch. The music does half the hosting for you.
You're invited
Blankets, Cider, and the Man Behind the Makeup
Come read the softest rock memoir on the shelf with us. Comfort food, warm mugs, low lamps, and a very gentle conversation about getting through things.
Trivia
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1
What is Alice Cooper's birth name?Answer: Vincent Damon Furnier.
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2
Alice Cooper began as the name of what, before it became the frontman's stage name?Answer: The name of the whole band.
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3
In what year was Alice Cooper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?Answer: 2011.
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4
Which US state has long been home base for Alice Cooper?Answer: Arizona, in the Phoenix area.
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5
Who is the Canadian writer and broadcaster credited as co-author of this memoir?Answer: Daniel Richler.
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6
Alice Cooper is famously devoted to which sport, to the point of hosting celebrity tournaments?Answer: Golf.
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7
The 1972 hit widely considered his signature song shares its title with a school-year milestone. Name it.Answer: School's Out.
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8
What subgenre of rock is Alice Cooper generally credited with pioneering?Answer: Shock rock, theatrical rock built around horror-style stage shows.
Bookmarks
Cozy night
Quiet honesty
The makeup comes off. The man is still there.
Devil On My Shoulder
Cozy night
Gentle welcome
Keep the porch light on for the people coming back.
Devil On My Shoulder
Cozy night
Hard-won comfort
Some nightmares end in a warm kitchen.
Devil On My Shoulder
Rate the book
Warmth
Honesty
Made me laugh
Comfort reread value
Voice on the page
One word for how this book left you feeling:
The moment I wanted to read aloud to someone:
Who I would hand this book to next:
Print pack
- Question cards on kraft stock, one per mug coaster
- Mug tags so nobody loses their cider in a dim room
- Trivia half-sheets with the answers folded under
- Three-up bookmark strips to cut and send home with guests
- Fill-in scorecards sized to tuck into the back of the book
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