Rating: 
Summary: Funny!
Review: "Straight Man" divides into two parts. In Part 1, "Occam's Razor", Russo offers hilarious interaction between the protagonist, William Henry Deveraux, Jr., and his colleagues, students, neighbors, and family members in a college town in the Pennsylvania rust belt. Here, Deveraux, through strength of mind, is able to stay above the fray and is amusingly superior to the hysteria, incompetence, and selfishness around him. But in part 2, "Judas ***", Deveraux loses his edge and is pulled into this messy academic and family world, which seems mostly disheartening after his loss of distancing humor. Anyone who writes and wonders how to end a book will love Russo's wonderful final chapter, where sweetly appropriate things happen to all his characters. Many will also recognize this comment from Deveraux, a novelist: "I can't help wondering if the brief temporal ellipses I've been suffering these past few days are a sign of approaching illness, but I remind myself that they aren't all that different from the sort of thing that used to happen all the time when I was working on [my] book...Lily, whenever she noticed that I'd disappeared during a conversation at the dinner table used to chide me for being physically present but emotionally absent without leave. And my daughter Karen told me years later that she could always tell by looking at me whether I was really there or off in some other world, revising fictional reality." Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Kill this duck
Review: A wise wag once remarked that the reason that academic debates are so loud is because the stakes are so low. At least this life merits some good laughs in the hands of a clever author. As a professor myself and a fan of the academic genre, I chuckled straight through Russo's fast, delightful read of "Straight Man" and quickly passed the book along to my provost, and English professor himself. This is the story of a college professor on the edge, sliding quickly down a slippery slope and compounding his troubles with solutions that only beget more problems. An apt portrait, both sad and funny, Russo has a real feel for college life and the inane aspects of the academy. A very pleasant read.
Rating: 
Summary: What a wild ride
Review: My daughter gave me this book. We both enjoyed "Nobody's Fool", especially as she went off to college in a small town in Maine. Yet, I felt there was something more to her offer. "Are you telling me that I'm a lot like this character?" I asked her. "If you were a college English professor." was her answer. Not very comforting from offspring that once said I was just like Tom Hanks in the movie 'Big'. Sounds a lot like -- grow up, Dad. Besides, I had been a college professor, albeit not English, before my daughter was born. It couldn't help but be a little concerned by her message. And I am sure not everyone will appreciate this character's humor. He does goad everyone, including himself, into action. Be damned what the direction. Yet by then I had found Hank Jr. lovable. After all this story is about enjoying the ride. As Russo writes early, enjoying the gleeful slalom down a slick road, direction changing randomly. The problem is the ride can't last forever. When we do come to a halt, exiting the vehicle with a whooping "tahda!", might be the best for which we can ask. I had to give Russo 1 shy of 4 stars because, although his ending has all the required symbolism on multiple levels, it left me ready for an end far shorter and a bit more clever. As his mother said, he was after all a clever boy.
Rating:
Summary: An ice cold beer on a hot summer day
Review: There have been many reviews so I won't bore you with the details of this book. It should be read (and it's an easy read) because it is a delight to read Russo's words. He has an apparent ease, and therefore skill, with the English language that is as refreshing as a cold beer at a hot baseball game. He weaves and parries, his sentences like glissandoes over the keyboard. When you add the wonderful humor, laugh-out-loud humor, this is a book to carry in your car to read in traffic jams. The drivers around you will be astounded at your happiness and want the book referral. Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Middle-age crazy in academe
Review: William Henry "Hank" Devereux, Jr., interim chairman of the English Department at West Central Pennsylvania University, has a lot of enemies -- which is understandable because he goads everyone, constantly. He goads his colleagues on the English faculty and in other departments, he goads the Dean of Liberal Arts, he goads the upper levels of the university's administration, he goads his oldest friends, he goads his wife and his daughter and his son-in-law. As Dickie Pope, the campus executive officer notes, he just can't help it. But Hank is pretty much incapable of anger, and he does indeed have a rapier way with words. However, things are getting really dicey lately, with the state legislature apparently about to institute massive faculty cuts, and the faculty union circling the wagons; a pox on both their houses, is Hank's attitude. Of course, the goose-choking episode won't help his own chances much. I can't help thinking this would make a helluva screenplay!
Rating:
Summary: Should not be missed!
Review: William Henry (a.k.a. Hank) Devereaux, Jr. is a wisecracking middle aged college teacher going through all kinds of crises. He is the beleaguered chair of his English department in a college that is about to get downsized by at least 20%. His oldest daughter is having marital problems. His father, who left him and his mother when he was a young boy, is returning to live with his mother in his old age. He also has fears (fantasies?) that his wife is cheating on him with his friends. On top of it all, he is having a physical problem of a highly private nature. Seemingly beset from all sides, Hank rarely takes things seriously, even as he knows serious and potentially tragic things are happening. The novel is told from Hank's point of view. Hank is a colorful character, and we get a very colorful view of his world and the people around him. Russo writes this in a way that we get to know Hank more than he knows himself, just as those closest to Hank seem to know him better than he knows himself. Hank is one of the most memorable characters in recent contemporary literature that I have read about. Another book or two like this one, and I think Russo will gain the stature of the likes of John Irving and Phillip Roth. At once comical and serious, this was a great moving novel; I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Novel of Middle Age
Review: Straight Man is the ultimate novel for the middle age man at the turn of the century. Hank Devereaux embodies the hopes, fears, and evolution of malekind.The author, Richard Russo, obviously understands the thought process of men and makes the reader laugh throughout an engaging, lively story. I've never read a book that I could see myself in more than this one, and would encourage any middle age professional man to dive into this one.
Rating:
Summary: One of the funniest books in years!
Review: This was my first experience with Russo and what a blast it was. William Henry Devereaux is the reluctant chair of the English Department at a small Pennsylvania college. Over the course of a week he will attempt to explore the relationship with his father, restore order to his paranoid department, hold a goose hostage, and survive a midlife crisis. In the midst of this chaos is a cast of the craziest characters since the works of John Irving and Tom Robbins. The downward spiral of academia has never been this fun. A hilarious read!
Rating:
Summary: Laugh out loud funny
Review: Russo departs from his usual style in book and succeeds in writing one of the best comic novels I have ever read. In this book, we are introduced to William Henry Devereaux, Jr., a lecturer at a third rate college in Pennsylvania. Russo manages to make Devereaux a very likable character. While the comic situations are too many to go into, let me say that Russo successfully manages to keep a comic atmosphere without descending into slapstick too often. The characters are all hilarious and that's what makes this book a success.
Rating:
Summary: Funny Man
Review: Who would've thought Richard Russo could be so funny?! I love him and I've read everything he's written. . . though I read this book several years ago I was browsing and came across this and just had to put in my two cents! As always, Mr. Russo's writing ability is strong as ever, he tells a story with exceptional style and in this one his characters are so endearing and human, and hilarious! I laughed out loud, that is very unusual for me. Whether you're a Russo fan or not I recommend you read this book, it will bring a smile to your lips!
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