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Summary: One of the funniest books I've ever had the pleasure to read
Review: I picked this book up as a diversion upon finding out that my mother had cancer. I had to actually AVOID reading it, though, because it seemed inappropriate to LAUGH HYSTERICALLY in the hospital room as my mother tried to sleep. She is doing better now, and I feel I can return to the book with a clear conscience!! I am a Russo convert- I plan to read everything he's ever written and wait eagerly for the next.
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Summary: Straight Man is straight-on hysterical!
Review: It is only February, but after reading Richard Russo's Straight Man, I predict that I have already read one of the best books I will read this year. I discovered Richard Russo last year, and having read Empire Falls and Nobody's Fool, this book is the best of the lot.Russo follows the exploits of William Henry Devereaux. "Hank" is an English professor and acting chair in a podunk branch of a Pennsylvania state college in a dying town. At the beginning of the novel, Hank recalls a scene where while driving up a hill that is snow-covered, he loses traction and careens down the hill, out of control. His life follows a similar path. He doesn't have a budget at school, hears constant rumors of tenured staff layoffs, tries to oversee an English department that is terribly dysfunctional and trying to remove him as chair, suffers from a physical malady, and always seems to be in the middle of a controversy. And like several other Richard Russo characters, Hank is his own worst enemy. Still, the story is delightful and Russo a wonderful and creative storyteller! I was especially drawn to the reflections and observations on everything from marriage, to academia, to life in general. The cast of characters is a scream and their antics will keep you laughing. It will also reaffirm your belief that things tend to work out for the best in the end. I definitely feel that Russo is one of the best authors today, and I can't wait to read his other books.
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Summary: Kingsley Amis Meets John Irving
Review: This very funny campus novel is the best I've read in the genre since some of David Lodge's early stuff. And even then, this comes close to matching Lodge. Russo captures his protagonist's voice perfectly: William Devereaux Jr. emerges as an endearing pain-in-the-ass, a wisecracker who always goes too far, but not without charm and humility. The story mostly revolves around Devereaux's mid-life crisis, which comes as the mediocre English department he chairs is under financial crunch. All the themes are there: sins of the father, fidelity in the face of temptation, importance of friendship (and enemies), worrying over the choices one's children make, and the work/home dialectic, to name but a few.
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Summary: "The truth is, we never know for sure about ourselves."
Review: Ah, middle age. Some gray around the temples. Occasional regrets about missed opportunities. Finding one's self, to his or her embarrassment, thinking out loud. Plumbing that either stops up, or slows to a frustrating dribble. Thus we enter the world of William Henry Devereaux, Jr., through the pages of Richard Russo's wonderful novel, STRAIGHT MAN. Henry, or "Hank," is the interim chair of a delightfully dysfunctional English department at a small Pennsylvania college. Because he doesn't want to turn out like the moody and disgruntled professors he works with, Hank refuses to take life seriously; whenever an earnest statement is uttered, Hank counters with an off-the-cuff witticism--in essence, every person who comes in contact with him becomes a "straight man." His demeanor has worn thin with his colleagues, even with his family, and over the course of a very eventful early spring week the midlife trials and tribulations of Hank Devereaux will come to a hilarious, yet endearing, fruition. Russo writes a relaxed, comfortable prose; his humorous timing--while simultaneously keeping the main character's first-person point of view on target--is marvelous. Yes, Hank is a smart aleck, but he's a lovable smart aleck, thanks to Russo's powerful storytelling ability. Yet despite all the humour and wit, there is also a deep underlying theme of melancholy and angst, all of which makes STRAIGHT MAN a compelling and highly recommended read.
--D. Mikels
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Summary: Talk About Bad Luck
Review: When I read Russo's "Empire Falls" I knew that I wanted to read more of his work. I went to the bookstore to get "Nobody's Fool" but was strapped for cash and "Straight Man" was more inexpensive so I opted for it instead--and I'm so glad I did. This wasn't a book I couldn't put down, but every time I did pick it up I ended up laughing hysterically. I passed it onto my mom, who has passed it on to a few other people, and all of us love this book. I LOVE THIS BOOK! I recommend it to anyone looking for a good read!
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Summary: One man's struggle with mediocrity
Review: Richard Ford won the Pulitzer Prize for Independence Day, a good book but not nearly as good as his masterful The Sportswriter, which he wrote several years earlier and for which he received great reviews but no prize. Russell Crowe won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Gladiator, an impressive performance but not nearly as impressive as his work in The Insider a few years earlier, which the Academy chose not to honor. There is a long list of examples of awards given to deserving people, but not necessarily in recognition of their most deserving work. Richard Russo, who won the Pulitzer for Empire Falls in 2002, is certainly on that list; his 1997 novel Straight Man is without doubt his best book. Russo has done what only the greatest of writers are able to achieve - he has arrived at the essence of human emotion, of human existence really, and he has laid down his findings with eloquence, humor, and honesty. Straight Man is both laugh-out-loud funny and incredibly serious. It is the story of Hank Devereaux, Jr., acting chair of the English Department of a mediocre, small-town Pennsylvania university. After threatening on the local news to kill a duck a day from the campus pond until his department receives a budget, his life takes a series of unexpected turns. Devereaux takes them all in stride, never failing to see the humor in his misfortune. Beneath the humor is a middle-aged man coming to terms with his place in life, gradually accepting his move from left field to first base on his softball team and all the symbolic implications that go along with it. We also see a man struggling to decide whether mediocrity is good enough for him, as it seems to be for those who surround him. Straight Man is a profound meditation on the unpredictable nature of life. Russo tries to teach us that the best way to live through the unexpected turns and disappointments, both big and small, is to learn how to laugh at yourself. There is humor in every situation, and those who can find it eventually find happiness as well.
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Summary: Entertaining read
Review: This is an entertaining,light-hearted book that was very enjoyable, even humorous at times. If you are looking for a book that is well-written and witty but not too deep or moving, this is a good choice. A great book for relaxation and joy reading. Some of the writing is exceptional and will have you chuckling.
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Summary: Very funny
Review: This is one of the funniest novels I've read in years. Highly entertaining with clever plotting and believable characters. I almost asphyxiated from laughing at the scene where Devereaux makes his threat before the cameras. I've also read Empire Falls (which did not have a happy ending, BTW) and thought Straight Man was a much better crafted and more successful novel. Read it and enjoy.
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Summary: Real characters
Review: I loved reading "Straight Man". I usually read all bad reviews written at Amazon.com prior and after reading a book. The bad reviews in this case did not make my opionion on the book change an inch (as most times they do). Hank, the main character, is sometimes cynical and even rude, but underneath is a good guy. He likes his son in law, even knowing he cheated his loved daughter because he can emphathize with him. But he has scruples, and sends him away anyways. He has impulses to cheat on his wife, but loves her so much that he does not dare. He is nasty with most of his colleagues, but mainly because they take themselves to seriously. Hank is so real you want to smack him or be friends with him. Like any living person he alternates between being a great guy and a first class jerk. Read the book and you'll understand!
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Summary: Hilarity Abounds and Astounds, but never Confounds!
Review: Even if I tried, I could never ever never say enough good things about "Straight Man" by America's great humorist, Rich Russo. This book has so much to recommend it, even to the uneducated, that it practically recommends itself. But since it's a book, it can't, and I have to. GREAT! First things first: Straight Man has loads of comedy in it, much of it so funny you won't ever stop laughing until you put the book down. That alone made me go out and by all of Richard Russo's other books before I was even four-sevenths through with this one. Russo's portrayal of the confused and absurd Devearux Jr. is virtuostic, not least because of it's tender yet brash unwillingness to turn aside from the poor man's urinary dillemas. Second: The characters! They come alive in the penetrating comedic gaze of Russo, and if you don't want to strangle one irritating English professor, you want to strangle them all! Third: This is the best book written about interdepartmental college politics I have ever read, and probably the best one out there. In the past I have felt excluded by books that delve too deep into the mundanities of the topic, but Russo is careful to portray his central subject in a way anyone who went to college could relate to. Don't be a silly duck (er, goose)! Read Straight Man! Note: Some more cautious readers might avoid this title because of the possible homosexual issues it's title arouses, but trust me: there is little gay content. There is some, but not very much. Two paragraphs, I think.
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