Rating: 
Summary: Two Books in One
Review: There's no doubt in my mind that Richard Russo is the best author I've read this year. In the last three months, I've read everything he's published: laughed my you-know-what off at Straight Man, read Empire Falls through tears, enjoyed Nobody's Fool and scratched my head through The Whore's Child. That's the context for me saying this about Russo: Risk Pool is not his best.It's still worthwhile reading. Set in Mohawk Falls, Risk Pool is the story of a boy growing up into a man and trying to shake off the charismatic shadow of his shady father. More of a novel of ill manners than a novel of manners, Risk Pool is still reminiscent of those long English novels of the 18th and 19th centuries. It's funny, and the characters of this town are real and memorable. What bothered me about Risk Pool is that it seemed like two separate books. The first two thirds of the book is about Ned Hall's growing up years, and the last third is what happens after he leaves college to come back and witness his father's decline. I really enjoyed the first part of the book, which really captured the universal experience of being a powerless child buffeted about by events created by not-too-healthy adults. The last third, when Ned is a not-too-healthy adult himself, was more of a reading chore. I finished the book because I loved the child Ned had been, but the last third of the book could really have been written about another person altogether. If Russo was going to take us from the moment-to-moment attention he gave to Ned's childhood to this slapdash adulthood, I would have liked to read more about Ned's college years and what was formative there.
Rating: 
Summary: The Risk Pool- you won't want to put it down
Review: The Risk Pool is a stellar read. I greatly enjoyed it and would reccomend it to readers of all genres. For those not familiar with Russo's writing style, he cleverly combines the more serious moments in life with a wonderful sense of humor as is seen throughout this novel. There are so many wonderful examples of clever comedy in the book that to mention one would not suffice to say just how good it is. Russo has a strong command of tone in relation to the book's humor. Also, he provides us with many interesting and often unusual family situations- the character of Sam Hall (Ned's father) is most often at the center of such circumstances. Another wonderful facet to Russo's novel is his depiction of the make-believe Central New York town of Mohawk. It is as if the town is real- maybe even Russo's birthplace- that is how vivid and wonderful his imagery of Mohawk is. Nonetheless, such conclusions are for the rest of the reading public to decide- once again, it is truly a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: More of the same good small town stuff
Review: Russo's novels all explore these two-bit towns in the northeast, with faded glories and unrealistic hopes. The Risk Pool is perhaps the best one I've read. The relationship between the boy Ned and his reckless father who careens through life breaking all the rules is the theme of the book, but it's so much more. Russo has the knack of making "ordinary" lives interesting, and for me this book was a real page-turner. If you've read Mohawk, Nobody's Fool or Empire Falls, you'll settle right into this one.
Rating:
Summary: A true five stars
Review: This is one of my favorite 'literary fiction' books. I like all of Richard Russo's books a great deal, but this is perhaps my favorite. A very deep, very moving story about two men, a father and a son; the father's ex-wife, and a typical Russo supporting cast of small-town blue-collar types. It's not only about the father and son's relationship (or lack of one), but these characters practically leap off the pages (to use a literary reviewer's cliche), they're so well-developed. The father is a hard drinker/carouser of Olympian proportions, while the son tries to make sense out of his dad and win his affection.
This is mostly a serious book, but there is some great humor in here too - it's just not remotely as out-and-out funny as 'Straight Man', nor as more subtly funny as 'Nobody's Fool'. I have no idea what the one reviewer was talking about when he said more than once that only the second half of this novel is good. The whole thing is great in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Far and away the best book I have read this year. Awsome.
Review: Sam Hall's kid is having to grow up on his own. His mother is a victim of a serious mental illness that renders her totally insubstantial as a parent and/or gaurdian--when she's not in the hospital. Sam Hall is the town vagabond--the kind of guy who lives on the edge, is constantly on the move, so immeresed in his own schemes and shennanigans he's hardly got time for his kid. As a result Sam's boy essentially raises himself and spends his time wondering how his parents ever got this way, while flip flopping form the "care" of one parent to the other. What makes this book work is that, flawed as the characters are, Russo nevertheless infuses them with the souls of real people. We can bemoan the fact that Sam's a lousy dad, and not that great a person overall, but it's hard to get too worked up about it as the fact is you kind of like the guy. In fact, this novel abounds in characters who are unsavory yet so brilliantly drawn and presented, we feel we know them well, warts and all. Additionally, Russo is a master at rendering the landscape of the small town, painting a picture that isn't all that attractive yet abounds in appealing context and situations--that is, he makes Mowhawk feel like home feels, regardless of where you grew up. In the end, what one is left with is a story--a rarity thses days. The novel is funny, sad, insiprational, gross and absorbing--in short, it's a lot like real life. What makes it an extraordinary story is that Russo pulls from it the extrordinary revelations about life, love, loyalty, stupidity, passion and loss that we ought to get out of our own lives but somehow don't. A truly remarkable book.
Rating:
Summary: Richard Russo rules!
Review: So you'll know where I'm coming from, I think I'm a pretty particular reader, lover of John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury, to name a few, and not much for most of the popular fiction being written today. This is the second book written by Richard Russo that I've read, and he has joined my hit list of all-time favorites. I will read anything he writes, if they're all as good as this! Run, don't walk, to read this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Real View of America
Review: I love Richard Russo's books, because I think they show a realistic view of some of America's ordinary people. Of all his books, I believe the Risk Pool is the BEST!!! I agree with another reviewer, I didn't feel so much as I was READING this book, as sitting in a bar and observing it!!! Please give us more books like this Richard Russo!
Rating:
Summary: No Second Novel Blues
Review: In the Risk Pool, Richard Russo follows up on his first novel, Mohawk, with a return to that same small town. It is only in the loosest sense a sequel, with only a couple minor characters from the first book returning. Instead, it is another successful Russo exploration of the themes that run throughout his books: the dying of the small town and the relationship between fathers and sons. More particularly, Russo explores the damage wayward fathers cause. In this case, Sam Hall abandons his son Ned shortly after birth and returns only haphazardly to create additional messes. Sam is a deadbeat dad, a drunkard and a philanderer and interestingly, one of the better fathers depicted in a Russo story: when the going gets tough, Sam does at least somewhat come through for his son. The town of Mohawk is not a pleasant place; while many are happy within, it is a trap, one which Sam and his estranged wife, Jenny, cannot escape. Whether Ned can overcome the snares of his parents and his home is one of the questions that are at least partially answered within. If I am not really getting into plot here, it is because there really isn't much of one; this book is more or less Ned Hall's memoir, the tale of his childhood and young adulthood. As always, Russo delivers with great writing, a blend of the humorous and the serious, and if this doesn't quite rate five stars - he has even better books such as Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls - it is a strong four star book and well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Russo's Best
Review: I've read all Richard Russo's books, except latest book of short stories, and he's one of my favorite authors and deserving of all the praise he's getting, and I hope he makes a pile of money, too. Wonderful dialogue, characters; poignant and heartfelt without being contrived. How a previous reviewer can compare him to John Grisham amazes me..filet mignon to a soy burger.....
Rating:
Summary: Improved as it Went Along
Review: This book is divided into four parts by the author based upon a quote about the dying town of Mohawk by the narrator's grandfather. In reality, it is in three parts: When the narrator is 12-14 years old, when he is just out of college at age 24, and a decade later. The part told by the youthful Ned is more than half the book. The characters are all introduced by the teenager. As he tells the story, the characters are like cut-out cardboard figures. This is true even of his father who is the main character and motivator behind the telling of the story. Although one would not expect a 12 year old to depict characters with depth and sympathy, the voice telling the story was ot that of a twelve year, thus the incongruity. This was a major disappointment to a reader who found the characters to be the best part of "Empire Falls." The disappointment was so deep that I almost put the book down for good. When the narrator leaves college and heads back home to Mohawk and renews his relationship with his alcoholic father the entire book turns around. Suddenly the characters have some depth so there can be empathy with them - particularly the father. When Ned resumes the story ten years later, the characters have been completely fleshed out and the relationship between father and son is completely compelling. At that point I did not want to see the story end, but knew that if it had been lengthened it would have been cheapened. This novel depicting the relationship between a dysfunctional (and somewhat bizarre) father and his son finally became gripping. There is some humor to the book as you would expect from Russo. However, the characters are so down in the dumps it rarely reaches the light-hearted nature of his books. Although "Risk Pool" is not nearly as good as "Empire Falls" due to its major problem getting the reader to know and sympathize with its characters, I was glad I stuck with it to get to the narrator's adult years. The last third of the book lifted it from a two star to a four star.
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