What are good book club discussion questions for Roll The Calls?

Spoiler-free questions to get the conversation going: Before you opened the book, what did you picture when you heard the words 'Hollywood agent'? Did reading it make that picture warmer or colder?; Was there a page where you caught yourself grinning or saying 'oh no' out loud? Read us the setup, no spoilers needed, just the feeling; The book runs on phone calls and quick connections. What is a call or message in your own life that changed something for you, and how did it feel in the moment?; Emanuel's version of ambition is loud and relentless. Did reading about that energy leave you charged up or quietly tired? Be honest, there is no wrong answer here; Family shows up again and again as the thing underneath the hustle. Which family moment in the book landed softest for you, and did it remind you of your own people?.

What food and drinks should I serve at a Roll The Calls book club?

Food: Deli-style pastrami sliders with pickles, Creamy baked ziti with garlic bread, and Warm chocolate chip cookies with flaky salt. Drinks: Hot spiced apple cider with an orange peel, Vanilla bourbon milk punch, and Negroni sbagliato with prosecco.

Cozy night

Roll The CallsBook club questions, food & host guide

Ari Emanuel

#2 New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller 1 week on the list

A cozy book club night for Roll The Calls by Ari Emanuel. Includes 8 spoiler-free discussion questions, food and drink pairings, a playlist, and a host guide, ready to print and share.

A club that loves a fast, gossipy memoir and a long conversation on the couch afterward

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A Hollywood super-agent pulls back the curtain on how deals, relationships, and sheer persistence built an entertainment empire. It is a chatty, anecdote-rich memoir that practically begs to be read aloud in a living room.

Why it works for clubs

Short, story-shaped chapters give everyone a favorite moment to share
The hustle-to-mogul arc invites honest talk about ambition and burnout
Insider industry stories are fun to react to without needing any expertise
Strong opinions on loyalty, family, and risk spark friendly disagreement

Themes & mood

Hollywood Ambition Memoir Dealmaking Hustle

Browse all themes →

Reading level

Easy

Warm-up questions

1 Before you opened the book, what did you picture when you heard the words 'Hollywood agent'? Did reading it make that picture warmer or colder?
2 Was there a page where you caught yourself grinning or saying 'oh no' out loud? Read us the setup, no spoilers needed, just the feeling.

Digging in

1 The book runs on phone calls and quick connections. What is a call or message in your own life that changed something for you, and how did it feel in the moment?
2 Emanuel's version of ambition is loud and relentless. Did reading about that energy leave you charged up or quietly tired? Be honest, there is no wrong answer here.
3 Family shows up again and again as the thing underneath the hustle. Which family moment in the book landed softest for you, and did it remind you of your own people?
4 The entertainment business here is built on relationships that are part friendship, part transaction. Have you ever felt that blur in your own work, and was it comfortable or strange?

Going deep

1 By the later chapters, what did you find yourself wishing for him, not in business terms but in human ones? What would have felt like enough?
2 Thinking about the whole book as a life story rather than a career story, what did it quietly teach you about what you want the pace of your own days to be?

On the table

Deli-style pastrami sliders with pickles

A warm, hand-held nod to the old-school agency lunch and New York deli roots, served off a sheet pan so nobody has to fuss

Creamy baked ziti with garlic bread

The classic power-lunch Italian red sauce dinner, made homey and scoopable for a crowd on a couch

Warm chocolate chip cookies with flaky salt

Hollywood runs on indulgence, and a cookie pulled out of the oven mid-discussion is the coziest version of a sweet deal

To sip

Hot spiced apple cider with an orange peel No alcohol

A no-fuss non-alcoholic mug drink that keeps hands warm and conversation slow

Vanilla bourbon milk punch

A soft, creamy take on the dealmaker's whiskey, gentle enough to sip through a long evening

Negroni sbagliato with prosecco

The Italian aperitivo the industry adopted, bubbly and low-effort to batch in a pitcher

Warm, confident, slightly glamorous background music: vintage soul, easy piano, and a little Sunset Boulevard swagger kept at talking volume

Tap a track to play it. Full songs play when you're signed into Spotify.

You're invited

Take The Call, Bring A Blanket

Come for pastrami sliders, baked ziti, and warm cider while we talk about Ari Emanuel's Hollywood. No analysis required, just your favorite moment and a comfortable chair.

Trivia

1

What is Ari Emanuel's role in the entertainment industry?

Answer: He is a talent agent and executive, best known for leading the agency that became WME and its parent company Endeavor.
2

What agency did Emanuel co-found in 1995 before its later merger?

Answer: Endeavor Talent Agency.
3

Endeavor merged with which legendary Hollywood agency in 2009?

Answer: William Morris, creating William Morris Endeavor (WME).
4

Emanuel is widely believed to be the inspiration for which brash TV agent character?

Answer: Ari Gold on HBO's Entourage.
5

In which city did Ari Emanuel grow up?

Answer: Chicago, Illinois.
6

One of Ari's brothers served as White House Chief of Staff and later as mayor. Who is he?

Answer: Rahm Emanuel.
7

What genre does Roll The Calls belong to?

Answer: Memoir, specifically a business and entertainment-industry memoir.
8

The phrase 'roll the calls' refers to what daily agent ritual?

Answer: Working through a stacked list of return phone calls, the backbone of an agent's day.