To tell the story of Joe Paterno, author Joe Posnanski wrote an opera, structuring his book with an overture and acts, arias and intermezzos. It's an homage to Joe Paterno's love of opera, as well as an illustration of the size and scope of Joe Paterno' life.

"It's a big life," Posnanski concludes.

And clearly, one that eludes easy reduction. "Paterno" which went on sale Tuesday offers no definitive answers to what the late Penn State coach knew about Jerry Sandusky or what he meant when he said, more than once, "I wish I had done more." The book does not claim that as its mission. In fact, the core of "Paterno" might come from a story entirely unrelated to Sandusky.

While recruiting John Cappelletti, who eventually won Penn State's only Heisman Trophy, Paterno first met the running back's younger brother, Joey, who had leukemia. Paterno spent the evening talking with Joey, while an assistant coach discussed Penn State with Cappelletti and his family.

"In this story," Posnanski writes, "as with so many of Paterno's actions, you can see the beauty or you can see the self-interest. Do you see a man who came across a child in pain and decided that the most important thing he could do that evening was try to bring a little joy into his life? Or do you see a man who determined that the best way he could recruit John Cappelletti to play at Penn State was to spend the evening talking to his sick younger brother?"

How you answer those questions will determine your reaction to the book. A reporter from ESPN.com wrote that "[f]or the fair-minded reader, the book will begin to rehabilitate Paterno's image." A review in the Wall Street Journal called the book "a devastating blow to Paterno's legacy."

Posnanski, who spent nearly a year in State College and was the last person to interview Paterno, does not crucify or indemnify the coach. He does not lead readers to stark conclusions one way or the other. Instead, Posnanski moors his book, particularly those sections regarding Sandusky, in a middle ground he describes variously as "murkier waters," "the storm" and "smoggy gray."

Friends and family members essentially forced Paterno to break from preparing his team to play Nebraska and read the November 2011 grand jury report that graphically described Sandusky's acts of pedophilia. Paterno, Posnanski writes, was confused both by the report and people's reactions to his part in it.

While reading the report, Paterno asked his son Scott, "What is sodomy, anyway?"

The late head coach also wondered how child-care professionals who approved Sandusky to be a foster parent and adopt children could have missed such crimes.

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Joe Paterno's life, in operatic form