Straight Man, Richard Russo
Straight Man, Richard Russo
7 Rating(s)
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Straight Man

Author: Richard Russo

Narrator: Sam Freed

Unabridged: 14 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/14/2003

Synopsis

William Henry Devereaux, Jr., spiritually suited to playing left field but forced by a bad hamstring to try first base, is the unlikely chairman of the English department at West Central Pennsylvania University. Over the course of a single convoluted week, he threatens to execute a duck, has his nose slashed by a feminist poet, discovers that his secretary writes better fiction than he does, suspects his wife of having an affair with his dean, and finally confronts his philandering elderly father, the one-time king of American Literary Theory, at an abandoned amusement park.

Such is the canvas of Richard Russo's Straight Man, a novel of surpassing wit, poignancy, and insight. As he established in his previous books -- Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool -- Russo is unique among contemporary authors for his ability to flawlessly capture the soul of the wise guy and the heart of a difficult parent. In Hank Devereaux, Russo has created a hero whose humor and identification with the absurd are mitigated only by his love for his family, friends, and, ultimately, knowledge itself.

Unforgettable, compassionate, and laugh-out-loud funny, Straight Man cements Richard Russo's reputation as one of the master storytellers of our time.

About The Author

Richard Russo is the author of eight novels, two collections of stories, and Elsewhere, a memoir. In 2002 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which, like Nobody’s Fool, was adapted for the screen in a multiple-award-winning HBO miniseries. In 2016 he published Everybody's Fool, a sequel to his 1993 book Nobody's Fool.Sam Freed is an American actor who has performed on Broadway, television, and in movies. His first major regular role on television was as Bob Barsky in the last three seasons of Kate & Allie. In the short-lived television series Ferris Bueller, he played Bill Bueller, the father of the title character. He also portrayed James C. Whiting III, the executive editor of the Baltimore Sun, in the fifth and final season of The Wire.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on September 04, 2017

Another good story from Richard Russo – I previously reviewed Empire Falls. This one is studded with humor. It’s really an academic novel, centered on a 49-year old professor (mid-life crisis?) at a lower-tier university, perhaps a branch campus, in a by-passed town in Pennsylvania. He is in the “san......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on January 08, 2025

We all have first times at one thing or another but it's rare in my case to have a first- third reading of a favorite book. Such is the case with Straight Man, which in my opinion is one of his best. For those unfamiliar with Mr Russo, he was awarded the Pulitzer for Empire Falls, and a Paul Newman......more

Goodreads review by Laura on August 12, 2023

I have been having trouble sleeping so I am rereading Straight Man for the umpteenth time and it easily remains in my favorite top 5 books ever. William Henry Devererux is to me the perfect comedic character. He walks around oblivious to the seriousness of life as others see it and uses his sarcasti......more

Goodreads review by Karen on October 04, 2024

This was my first-time reading Richard Russo. What a perfect introduction to this author. This is the story of William Henry "Hank" Deveraux, Jr. He is an English professor and department chair working in a small, lower-tier university. And…It appears he is in the midst of a mid-life crisis as he ta......more

Goodreads review by Brad on March 14, 2010

I remember almost nothing about Richard Russo's Straight Man. I imagine I laughed a couple of times, and I think I enjoyed the reading experience, but there is only one specific thing that I remember from the book itself. More on that later, though, because I want to talk about the peripheral things......more

Quotes

"The funniest serious novel I have read since—well, maybe since Portnoy's Complaint." —The New York Times Book Review

"There is a big, wry heart beating at the center of Russo's fiction." —The New Yorker

"[Russo] skewers academic pretensions and infighting with mad abandon...in a clear and muscular prose that is a pleasaure to read....I had to stop often to guffaw, gasp, wheeze, and wipe away my tears." —Chicago Sun-Times

"Bursting with humor and insight." —USA Today

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