Russos straight man was a bit different from our usual book club fare, offering us a comical look at smalltown university life and politics in place of the more somber books weve read recently. It runs decidedly against richard russos approach in straight man, and the result is a hilarious and touching. Russo was born in johnstown, new york, and raised in nearby gloversville. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 483 pages and is available in paperback format. Straight man merrimack valley library consortium overdrive. Richard russos latest cast includes average men and one. The main characters of this fiction, contemporary story are. Free download or read online straight man pdf epub book.
The first edition of the novel was published in january 1st 1997, and was written by richard russo. Pdf empire falls book by richard russo free download. Hilarious and truetolife, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down, straight man follows hank devereaux through one very bad week in this novel. The richard russo books ive read have all taken place in decaying new york mill towns. Richard russo his newest book, everybodys fool, brings back the wonderfully likeable characters and locale of his earlier novel nobodys fool. William henry devereaux jnr, hank at almost fifty, is interim chairman of the english department at the chronically underfunded west central pennsylvania university in railton. Straight man is definitely my recommendation of 2003, thus far.
Straight man palm beach county library system overdrive. Pdf straight man book by richard russo free download 391. Few authors do male vulnerability as well as richard russo. Richard russo, the pulitzer prizewinning author of empire falls, a compassionate look at bluecollar america, is one of our most prominent novelists today.
In this warm, bighearted novella, pulitzer prize winner richard russo nobodys fool, straight man, empire falls transports his characters from the workingclass east coast of his novels to one of europes most romantic cities. Pdf empire falls book by richard russo free download 483. Richard russo won the 2002 pulitzer prize for fiction for his fifth novel empire falls made into a tv series starring paul newman, ed harris, philip seymour hoffman and helen hunt. Russos other bestselling books include straight man, the memoir elsewhere, and an acclaimed story collection. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 391 pages and is available in paperback format. William of occam, says hank, sought to reconcile faith with rational inquiry p. The main characters of this fiction, humor story are.
Pulitzer prizewinner richard russos first standalone novel in a decade is a. Even his rascals you want to wrap in tissue paper for safekeeping. Jan 01, 1997 the richard russo books ive read have all taken place in decaying new york mill towns. Straight man by richard russo book club discussion questions. Straight man by richard russo overdrive rakuten overdrive. Dexter county, maine, and specifically the town of empire falls, has seen better days, and for decades, in fact, only a succession. Richard russo ebooks epub and pdf format richard russo ebooks. And russo s currently writing a screenplay for dreamworks based on his fourth novel, straight man.
A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. Richard russo dear dianei have special affection for straight man, too, but mostly because it was by far the easiest of all my novels to write. He is regarded by many leading critics as the most important writer about main st. Richard russo born july 15, 1949 is an american novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and teacher. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. A gloriously funny and involving fourth novel from the author of such comfortableasoldshoes fictions as mohawk 1986 and nobodys fool 1993. Straight man is the fourth novel by pulitzer prizewinning american novelist, richard russo.
Novelist richard russo is renowned for his depiction of blue collar life in abandoned mill towns in upstate new york and northern new england, believed to be modeled after the city he grew up in, gloversville, new york. Straight man chesterfield county public library overdrive. Russo is considered by many to be the best contemporary writer of smalltown american life. Russo does a very subtle and masterful job of slowly developing the interior henry devereux jr. In straight man, author richard russo introduces the readers to william henry devereax, a writing teacher and a onetime novelist. Understanding workplace envy through narrative fiction citeseerx. Id been storingmore dear dianei have special affection for straight man, too, but mostly because it was by far the easiest of all my novels to write. Random house, 1997 is a novel by richard russo set at the fictional. Richard russofrom his first novel, mohawk, to his most recent, straight manhas demonstrated a peerless affinity for the human tragicomedy, and with this stunning new novel he extends even further his claims on the smalltown, bluecollar heart of the country.
Straight man public library of cincinnati and hamilton. The book has been awarded with pulitzer prize for fiction. His newest book, everybodys fool, brings back the wonderfully likeable characters and locale of his earlier novel nobodys fool. Griffin has been tooling around for nearly a year with his fathers ashes in. All this while coming to terms with his philandering father, the dereliction of his youthful promise, and the ominous failure of certain vital body functions.
Richard russos latest cast includes average men and one big. Reading richard russos newest novel, straight man, you cant help but experience a strong sense of deja vu. In short, straight man is classic russosidesplitting and truetolife, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down. Devereauxs reluctance is partly rooted in his characterhe is a born anarchist and partly in the fact that. Richard russo dear diane i have special affection for straight man, too, but mostly because it was by far the easiest of all my novels to write. In english departments the most serious competition is for the role of straight man p. Straight man by richard russo penguin books australia. Straight man richard russo in this uproarious novel, richard russo performs his characteristic highwire walk between hilarity and heartbreak. Straight man is an exceedingly funny novel from author richard russo. He earned a bachelors degree, a master of fine arts degree, and a doctor of. Known for his sly humor and his touchingly real characters, richard russo s novels about the perennial odd man out are notable for both their sharp turns of phrase and for their nuance.
Though russo has diversified somewhat with his latest two books, bridge of sighs and that old cape magic, 1997s straight man remains the anomaly in his backlist. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Empire falls isbn 9780375726408 pdf epub richard russo. Straight man carnegie library of pittsburgh overdrive. In this uproarious new novel, richard russo performs his characteristic highwire walk between hilarity and heartbreak. Richard russo was born july 15, 1949, in johnstown and grew up in gloversville, new york. Richard russo in the course of one week, henry devereaux, jr. Richard russo books, ebooks, audiobooks, biography barnes. Straight man by richard russo book club discussion. Richard russo s straight man i am more or less with chris and lale. Mohawk, the risk pool, nobodys fool, straight man, and empire falls, and a collection of stories, the whores child. Straight man varies that by taking place in a decaying pennsylvania railroad town. Richard russo lives in coastal maine with his wife and their two daughters. Hilarious and truetolife, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down, straight man follows hank devereaux through one very bad week in this novel from pulitzer prizewinning author richard russo.
Straight man richard russo posted by anna van gelderen on 692002, 16. The protagonist is a hapless middleaged man whos ironic, irreverent, perhaps even brilliant, but lost without the keener emotional insight and wisdom of his beautiful wife. William has just decided to settle in a beleaguered stint as the departmental head, where he finds extremely important to tread the water and go. Actually, it differs from his other books quite significantly by belonging to another genreits a campus comedy, a genre i associate with writers like david lodge. Straight man the free library of philadelphia overdrive. Richard russo is the author of eight novels, two collections of stories, and on helwig street, a memoir. Richard russo books list of books by author richard russo. Russo s protagonist is william henry devereaux, jr. Pdf straight man book by richard russo free download. May 10, 2017 trajectory stories by richard russo 243 pages. He is also the author of mohawk, the risk pool, nobodys fool, straight man and bridge of sighs, as well as a collection of stories, the whores child.
Why does russo call the first portion of the novel occams razor. Novelist richard russos new memoir, elsewhere, is the uncompromisingly tragic yet beautifully told story of his relationship with his mentally ill mother. In 2002 he received the pulitzer prize for empire falls, which, like nobodys fool, was adapted to film, in a multipleawardwinning hbo miniseries. Straight man news newspapers books scholar jstor november 20 learn how and when to remove this template message. The film version of nobodys fool earned him a wider audience, but the pulitzer in 2001 for empire falls ensured a spotlight on his work for years to come. A novel vintage contemporaries kindle edition by russo, richard. Straight man by richard russo reading guidebook club. Free download or read online empire falls pdf epub book. We hope they will provide interesting new angles from which to examine this funny, poignant, and compassionate novel by one of the most compelling storytellers of our day. Richard russos third novel, nobodys fool, was adapted for the screen by robert benton, one of those rare movie versions of a book that retains the full sophistication and subtlety of the original material.
The first edition of the novel was published in 2001, and was written by richard russo. Russo was invited to do some work on the screenplay during production. Richard russo ebooks epub and pdf downloads ebookmall. Richard russo books, ebooks, audiobooks, biography. Would you say that this describes hanks search during the course of the novel.