Rating: 
Summary: One of my Top 10 Favorite Books of All Time
Review: My first exposure to Richard Russo came via the movies. Specifically, the film rendition of 'Nobody's Fool' (I cannot resist anything featuring Paul Newman). I fell in love with the film, and all of its quirky, lovable characters, and debated for quite a while before picking up the book. Would reading it tarnish the esteem in which I held the movie? Film versions of books are notoriously horrid ('The Princess Bride' is a notable exception). Would I end up wishing I had never read the cursed manuscript?Oh no. Emphatically no. This is a wonderful book, full of lyricism, real people, and the engaging, bittersweet story I have to come to expect from Mr. Russo. His painting of small-town New England life is full of colorful details and a clarity that reminds me of Hemingway, although I never felt as drawn to any of Hemingway's characters as I do to those in 'Nobody's Fool.' The reluctant protagonist, Donald Sullivan ('Sully'), is both irresistable and infuriating. His ridiculously comic best friend Rub and his perpetually optimistic land-lady Miss Beryl are on-the-money portaits of genuine people. The interplay between Sully and his sometimes-boss, all-the-time nemesis Carl is worth the read alone. As is typical with film versions of books, the book is a good deal deeper, and darker, than the movie. The descriptions of Sully's childhood growing up with an abusive parent have stayed with me, although in no way do they resort to grisly details to pack their punch. The book and the film are different entities; two separate and excellent pieces of work. I have not read all of Mr. Russo's works, but a good number of them, and 'Nobody's Fool' is still my favorite. You will laugh out loud at Sully's antics, fall in love with the characters, and marvel and the fine writing in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny, thought-provoking, unforgettable
Review: Sully and an interesting cast of unforgettable characters reside in the small town of North Bath, in upstate NY. Sully lives in a flat above Miss Beryl, the town's former 8th-grade teacher who passes time talking to a picture of her dead husband. Sully struggles with a bad knee, a freaky ex-wife, the dumbest of dumb best friends, and his estranged son who returns to town and seems very likely to follow right along in Sully's footsteps. This was my second read by Russo (first was "Empire Falls," also great) and he didn't let me down. This book contains a great writing style and is filled with laugh-out-loud moments. Signature Russo is the fabulous characterization which is the power behind this book. Russo is a master of making the details of small-town folks and small-town life matter.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest American novels
Review: There's something about this book... It grows on you. I've read it once and listened to the unabridged audiobook version, and it has a strange power. Nothing much happens in this novel, other than a few days in the life of Donald Sullivan, Sully, and the people who rotate around him in the small town of Bath, NY. But there is an Everyman quality in Sully's lackadaisical attitude toward life, his easy-going nature, his friendliness and grumpiness. He's the kind of person you'd never notice in a diner, but he's deeply ingrained in the life of this small community. Richard Russo has a talent for developing characters, through their actions and the subtle flashbacks that talk about their pasts. Sully is the quintessential Russo character, and is charming and amiable, even if he can be a pain in the ass. But like all humans, he has good and bad qualities, and this book, more than anything, shows us how human being act in good and not so good ways. This is such a good book it would go on my desert island list.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written book
Review: Donald Sullivan--"Sully"--has rarely met a promising opportunity he didn't walk away from. Arguably the most stubbornly wrongheaded man in the economically depressed village of North Bath, New York, Sully scrapes a living as a jack of all trades, often fed construction work by the town's most fortunate scion, Carl Roebuck. Roebuck, a man with the sexual appetite of a satyr, enjoys an amusing love-hate relationship with Sully, the product of a lifetime of acquaintance in a small town. Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool abounds in these rich relationships, fully-formed characters sharing complex, realistic histories with one another. Chief among those characters is Sully's landlady and one-time 8th-grade teacher, 80-year-old Beryl Peoples, who has been Sully's staunch ally for more than forty years. Nobody's Fool is a chronicle of one particularly trying period in Sully's life, during which he is plagued by a grotesquely swollen knee and by unusually vivid reminiscences of his abusive father, now dead. ("Sully hated to think of his father at rest, and had there been a way, and if Sully'd had the money, he'd have left instructions to have Big Jim dug up every decade or so, just to make sure he didn't get comfortable.") The book is beautifully written, and Russo's evocation of North Bath is so successful that the town and its strange-looking denizens will come to reside in your imagination. A good, long, slow read you'll be sorry to part with.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Russo's world
Review: Russo's world is small-town America, a place that's hopeful, sad and oddly inviting. It's a place that will likely strike a chord with most every reader, regardless of where they grew up. The characters here are interesting and find a way to be likeable despite their many flaws. It's hard not to be swept in by the various storylines that ebb and flow throughout the novel. In lesser hands, the petty rivalries and failed relationships of our protagonist, Donald Sullivan, aka "Sully," wouldn't be so captivating. But as any reader of Russo's novels knows, the author has a way with his characters. Their dialogue is thoughtful and just witty enough not to be taken too seriously. "Nobody's Fool" takes you to Russo's world. And when you're finished reading this book, it's hard not to feel the urge to return for another visit.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding work
Review: One of the best books I've ever read. The writing is great, and Russo sets the pace beautifully (not once did I think, OK, let's get on with it). The author also seems to have an unerring ability to define each character with simple dialogue and action; everything they say and do fits so perfectly. When I finally put the book down, I could almost imagine these characters continuing to live their lives, which is a testament to Russo's talent. Also, this has to be one of the funniest (perhaps "wittiest" is a better word) books I've read in a long time. The humor seems effortless and grows naturally from the characters and their situations (though it's far from the strained sitcomy humor so many novelists seem to prefer). I often laughed out loud. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Lovable Novel!
Review: I first read Russo when I discovered his Pulitzer Prize winning 'Empire Falls,' then went on to read 'The Risk Pool,' which I liked very much, and now 'Nobody's Fool,' which yes, is similar to 'The Risk Pool,' but is my favorite of Russo's books that I've read so far (I liked both 'The Risk Pool' and 'Nobody's Fool,' though, better than 'Empire Falls'--the latter is good, with more plot, perhaps, but a few definite flaws, too). Sully is just a wonderful main character and very, very lovable! I found myself saying often enough, 'Sully, Sully, Sully!' (a line that others in the book say frequently about Sully!)--not in exasperation, really, but more out of love for him. Tsk, tsk, tsk. There are a lot of good reviews on this book on here already, so I just want to add a few things. Yes, the dialogue is superb, as in Russo's other books, too. He has an incredible ear, and you really can open the book at any place and get absorbed in it--especially if you pick anywhere that has dialogue in it. Also, I felt Sully was portrayed not just in all his flaws, but wholistically, as Russo showed Sully's compassionate side as well. Who else but Sully could handle old, demented Hattie so well and with such patience and humor? Who but Sully would 'get' at Carl with not only such crazy humor, but an underlying affection as well? Or take the time to talk with his elderly landlord each time he saw her? And yes, Sully might have had a lot of bad luck, but I felt that Russo strongly portrayed this irrascible character as having his share of good and happy moments as well, someone that yes, was having his own fun with life's tragedies. What I love about Russo's writing, too, is that he's never maudlin, always keeps things understated, or couches them in humor (but again, keeps things 'real'). This book, which is very 'dense' by the way, with its detail and dialogue (something I really liked), made me think about the role of luck in life, made me question how much we determine what we do, and if we can really change at age 60 or older (I think the answer, with Sully, is both yes and no, not to beg the question!). This was a book that I got totally absorbed in, chuckled out loud at, laid aside to think about--and so now I'm looking forward to reading 'The Straight Man'. But think I'll buy a copy of this novel that's in better condition than the one I have, as it's a keeper, a book that can be read again and again, and a real winner. Russo has my admiration for his superb writing skills!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, Beautiful, True, Unsentimental
Review: This is an amazing and beautiful book. It's not quite as funny as Straight Man (one of the funniest books I've read in some time, on par with Chabon's similarly themed Wonder Boys), but then it's not quite as depressing as Empire Falls either. It strikes a good balance, making it both humorous and moving. Russo's ear for dialogue is always pitch perfect and always makes a connection with the reader, causing either laugher or insight into the personalities of his characters. He clearly loves his characters, and his description makes you love them too, even when they're fairly unlovable. The main character, Sully, is a hard-as-nails 60-year-old curmudgeon who abandoned his wife and son when the latter was an infant. Since then, he's refused to take responsibility for anyone or anything, he's constantly humiliated and degraded his best friend, he's been in and out of jail, and he's never apologized or shown vulnerability to anyone. And yet, he's so well developed that you can't help feel sympathy, if not empathy, for him. When his son reenters his life and introduces him to his grandson, a clear opportunity for softening up this crotchety old man presents itself, but Russo never reduces his characters with sentimentality. Though we get a glimpse of why Sully might be such a hard man (he was abused by his father when he was a child), you never get the impression that Russo is making excuses for him. Sure, you understand the ghosts that haunt Sully and see how such issues could do irreparable harm to someone, but none of this excuses the way he's treated his own son. His son doesn't excuse it, Sully doesn't argue the point, and as a reader you don't feel moved to do so either. In the end, Sully has indeed grown and developed. He's accepted responsibility for a few things in his life, and he's even allowed a few people to do him some significant favors without rewarding their generosity with scorn. That said, even the ending of the book makes a point of resisting sentimentality, which would be way too easy. Sully's gains are modest, and there's no getting around the fact that age 60 is a little late to start changing people significantly. The book leaves you interested in where the twilight of Sully's years might take him, without dismissing the long, hard trip his life has been. Oh yeah, though it might be hard to imagine it based on the heaviness of the themes address in this review, this book is laugh-out-loud funny too.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read this year
Review: NOBODY'S FOOL by Richard Russo NOBODY'S FOOL was my introduction to the writing of Richard Russo, who won the Pulitzer prize for his book, EMPIRE FALLS. In NOBODY'S FOOL, we find ourselves immersed in the small town life of Bath, located in the Northeastern corner of the United States. Sully (Donald Sullivan) and all the other quirky characters that fill this novel made it the most interesting read I've had this year so far. Sully's life has no purpose. He drifts through life, doing what he feels at that point in time. He lives in a very modest apartment that is barely furnished, and spends most of his time either at Hattie's restaurant, the bar, or betting on the race tracks. He gets the odd job here and there, mostly doing physical type of labor such as helping someone build a house. This may sound mundane, but it's not. Not when Sully is behind it. He can make the simplest task an outrageous event. If there is some news in town that sounds almost too weird to be true, Sully is often behind it. Sully's sidekick is a simpleton named Rub. He's short, and is the joke of the town. But for some reason Sully likes having him around, especially when he feels like making fun of someone. Rub sticks to Sully like white on rice, and it also appears that Rub is in love with Sully, but not in THAT way of course, as anyone could tell you. Just a lot of idol worship, that's what seems to be emanating out of Rub. Sully's life is intertwined with his landlady, Miss Beryl, who was once one of his grade school teachers. Now, they are both in their golden years. Their history is complicated. A lot of Sully is wrapped up in Miss Beryl's family, a complex series of relationships and events that caused her son Clive Jr. to hate Sully with a passion. A rivalry that Sully is not even aware of exists between the two men, and it stems from a childhood that both Clive and Sully shared. Miss Beryl's days are spent talking to her dead husband Clive Sr. and a mask she calls Drivers Ed, which is another quirky story that fits the theme of this book. All the characters in NOBODY'S FOOL are not quite normal. Or maybe they are, but they seem to have little quirks that the average person would think rather unusual. The charm of this novel is not the story, but the odd people that reside in this small town of Bath. I found myself chuckling quite often, and at the same time I found the person that was Sully a fascinating character study. His life story is told in bits and pieces, from his childhood and dysfunctional relationship with his father, to his first marriage and his neglect for his own son Peter. As one reads this book, it may be difficult to find the point of the story. But there is a point. There are various points to NOBODY'S FOOL, but I felt the most important moral to this story was acceptance, and the courage to move on. A lot goes on in NOBODY'S FOOL, and it may take some patience to get through the book. But I found it easy reading, although slow, because it's not a beach read, but it is a book in which one will remember the characters for a very long time. NOBODY'S FOOL will most likely appear on my top 20 books of 2003.
Rating:
Summary: Nobody's Fool is Everybody's Darling
Review: I fell in love with Richard Russo after reading Empire Falls, and I enjoyed Nobody's Fool even more. The main character is ne'er-do-well Donald Sullivan. "Sully" drinks and smokes too much and eats and sleeps too little. He is too stubborn for his own good, and can always be depended on to make the wrong decisions. He rarely does well by the people in his life including his ex-wife, his son, his girlfriend, his best friend or his lawyer. He grew up with an abusive father who still haunts him despite the fact that he died a few years back. Despite all this, you can't help falling in love with Sully, and even though his life seems totally out of control, you can't help but feeling that Sully is enjoying life in spite of himself. Russo's book does not contain high drama, but you will be entertained by the comical antics and quirky characters of this small, depressed town in upstate New York. The characters and dialogue are always real and always first rate. And despite an inherent sadness about the hopelessness of North Bath and Sully's plight, there are enough comical scenes to keep you chuckling throughout. And there's always the expectation that things might just work out for the best. Richard Russo has jumped onto my favorite author list to join Pat Conroy and Larry McMurtry.
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