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Straight Man: A Novel [Paperback] Richard Russo (Author)
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Richard Russo's bestselling novels explore the tragicomic realities of small-town life with poignancy and humor. Visit Amazon's Richard Russo Page.
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Book Description
Publication Date: June 9, 1998
In this uproarious new novel, Richard Russo performs his characteristic high-wire walk between hilarity and heartbreak. Russo's protagonist is William Henry Devereaux, Jr., the reluctant chairman of the English department of a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt. Devereaux's reluctance is partly rooted in his character--he is a born anarchist-- and partly in the fact that his department is more savagely divided than the Balkans.
In the course of a single week, Devereaux will have his nose mangled by an angry colleague, imagine his wife is having an affair with his dean, wonder if a curvaceous adjunct is trying to seduce him with peach pits, and threaten to execute a goose on local television. 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. in short, Straight Man is classic Russo--side-splitting and true-to-life, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down.
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In this uproarious new novel, Richard Russo performs his characteristic high-wire walk between hilarity and heartbreak. Russo's protagonist is William Henry Devereaux, Jr., the reluctant chairman of the English department of a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt. Devereaux's reluctance is partly rooted in his character--he is a born anarchist-- and partly in the fact that his department is more savagely divided than the Balkans.
In the course of a single week, Devereaux will have his nose mangled by an angry colleague, imagine his wife is having an affair with his dean, wonder if a curvaceous adjunct is trying to seduce him with peach pits, and threaten to execute a goose on local television. 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. in short, Straight Man is classic Russo--side-splitting and true-to-life, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
First Jane Smiley came out of the comedy closet with Moo, a campus satire par excellence, and now Richard Russo has gotten in on the groves-of-academe game. Straight Man is hilarious sport, with a serious side. William Henry Devereaux Jr., is almost 50 and stuck forever as chair of English at West Central Pennsylvania University. It is April and fear of layoffs--even among the tenured--has reached mock-epic proportions; Hank has yet to receive his department budget and finds himself increasingly offering comments such as "Always understate necrophilia" to his writing students. Then there are his possible prostate problems and the prospect of his father's arrival. Devereaux Sr., "then and now, an academic opportunist," has always been a high-profile professor and a low-profile parent.
Though Hank tries to apply William of Occam's rational approach (choose simplicity) to each increasingly absurd situation, and even has a dog named after the philosopher, he does seem to cause most of his own enormous difficulties. Not least when he grabs a goose and threatens to off a duck (sic) a day until he gets his budget. The fact that he is also wearing a fake nose and glasses and doing so in front of a TV camera complicates matters even further. Hank tries to explain to one class that comedy and tragedy don't go together, but finds the argument "runs contrary to their experience. Indeed it may run contrary to my own." It runs decidedly against Richard Russo's approach in Straight Man, and the result is a hilarious and touching novel. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Hank Devereaux Jr. is the kind of guy who turns anything serious into a joke. Pushing 50, he's the interim chair of a squabbling English department at a small rural college. Big budget cuts are rumored. Each department chair has been told to provide a list of those who will lose their jobs. His department believes that Hank has prepared such a list, but he hasn't and won't. Instead, he goes on television and spontaneously jokes that he will kill the campus geese until the administration gives him his budget. When a goose really is killed, Hank becomes the prime suspect. In his earlier novels (e.g., Nobody's Fool, LJ 4/15/93), Russo captured with compassion and humor the lives of the people in small backwater towns; now he does the same for those who inhabit the groves of academe. This novel is filled with laughter but also much seriousness. Give it a straight A.?Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Product Details
Paperback: 391 pages
Publisher: Vintage (June 9, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375701907
ISBN-13: 978-0375701900
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Rick Russo is the author of six previous novels and THE WHORE'S CHILD, a collection of stories. In 2002, he received the Pulitzer Prize for EMPIRE FALLS. He lives with his wife in Camden, Maine, and Boston.
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286 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (286 customer reviews)
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87 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If this Book Doesn't Make You Laugh..., May 7, 2003
By
Bruce Kendall "BEK" (Southern Pines, NC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Straight Man: A Novel (Paperback) ..then, "Jack..You Dead!
I had thought until reading STRAIGHT MAN that the standard for humorous novels with academic settings had been set by James Hynes. Russo is even funnier. His comic timing is akin to the great comedians of stage and sceen, like the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Moore & Cooke, etc. Yet not only is the man funny, he can flat out write, as well.
In STRAIGHT MAN, Russo performs a balancing act of surface playfulness combined with searing truths about life's missed opportunities and moments of quiet despair. Behind the one-liners and the buffoonery of Henry Devereux Jr.'s comic mask, exists an enigmatic, compassionate, troubled soul, whose personality disorder has been triggered by a single incident he shares with his mother when he is a young teen. His humorous guise is something he has created so as to safely retreat from the seperation anxiety that is his constant companion. To his friends and colleagues he is "Hank," easy to dismiss or to to ridicule, or in two instances, to physically attack (OK, three, if you count the goose!). Russo does a very subtle and masterful job of slowly developing the interior Henry Devereux Jr., however, and by the novel's end, the reader has been granted the full revelation of character and the whole man stands naked (figuritavely speaking) before us.
STRAIGHT MAN is definitely my recommendation of 2003, thus far. The funny bits are truly hysterical. The dramatic bits ring true to life. This certainly not just another humorous novel about Academia. It's as well written and well rounded as any novel I've read in recent years. I look forward with great anticipation to reading EMPIRE FALLS.
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53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "The truth is, we never know for sure about ourselves.", January 15, 2004
By
D. Mikels "It's always Happy Hour here" (Skunk Holler) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Straight Man: A Novel (Paperback) Ah, middle age. Some gray around the temples. Occasional regrets about missed opportunities. Finding one's self, to his or her embarrassment, thinking out loud. Plumbing that either stops up, or slows to a frustrating dribble.
Thus we enter the world of William Henry Devereaux, Jr., through the pages of Richard Russo's wonderful novel, STRAIGHT MAN. Henry, or "Hank," is the interim chair of a delightfully dysfunctional English department at a small Pennsylvania college. Because he doesn't want to turn out like the moody and disgruntled professors he works with, Hank refuses to take life seriously; whenever an earnest statement is uttered, Hank counters with an off-the-cuff witticism--in essence, every person who comes in contact with him becomes a "straight man." His demeanor has worn thin with his colleagues, even with his family, and over the course of a very eventful early spring week the midlife trials and tribulations of Hank Devereaux will come to a hilarious, yet endearing, fruition.
Russo writes a relaxed, comfortable prose; his humorous timing--while simultaneously keeping the main character's first-person point of view on target--is marvelous. Yes, Hank is a smart aleck, but he's a lovable smart aleck, thanks to Russo's powerful storytelling ability. Yet despite all the humour and wit, there is also a deep underlying theme of melancholy and angst, all of which makes STRAIGHT MAN a compelling and highly recommended read.
--D. Mikels
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45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very funny, serious novel, January 13, 2000
By
J. Mullin (Plantation, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Straight Man: A Novel (Paperback) Like one of the other reviewers here on Amazon, I stumbled across this book on a bargain rack and picked it up on a whim. I am an english major and thought the premise for the book looked promising, although having read it I think the duck cover does the book an injustice because this is not a slapstick, absurdist novel like the cover might suggest. Russo has written a contemporary masterpiece, a brilliant, serious novel that includes occasional scenes so funny you will laugh out loud. He pokes fun at today's climate of political correctness (one the of the assistant professors has been nicknamed "Orshee" because he is always correcting the automatic use of the male pronoun) and similarly lampoons academia with terrific results. You need not be a professor to enjoy his writing, and Russo's dialogue is maybe the best being written today. I have recommended this book to many people since I discovered it, and also enjoyed The Risk Pool and Nobody's Fool by the author. I can't wait for his next book. Read Straight Man you won't be disappointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Headline: Former College Administrator Loves Straight Man!
"Former College Administrator Loves Straight Man" - Now there's a headline that would strike fear into the Dean's office, yes? But in this case it's appropriate. Read more
Published 12 days ago by D. Wade
2.0 out of 5 stars Sophomoric and Overly Repetitive
I somehow ordered this book by accident but I did read it and did finish it. The setting is life in a small town second-rate college. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ReadsALot
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read and Instant Classic
I have a whole new faith in writing after reading this novel. Straight Man is a brilliant, entertaining, hilarious novel that deals with 'darker' subjects. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A Hans
5.0 out of 5 stars Bill Murray-ish
I was unexpectedly delighted
with this book that I am
finding myself recommending it
to everyone. The main character,
William Henry Devereaux, Jr. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Debnance at Readerbuzz
2.0 out of 5 stars First person thoughts, conversations, and incomplete mini stories. I did not find it funny or witty. I was not entertained.
STORY BRIEF:
Told in first person by Hank Devereaux. He is chair of the English Dept. at a university in Pennsylvania. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jane
5.0 out of 5 stars life can be funny
This books is a great read. Written in first person, the main character is an "ordinary" professor, but with a great eye for the ironic, and the humor in the current moment. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Lori Ellingboe
4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Look at Faculty Dynamics
I once read a quote to the effect that faculty political infighting is so ruthless because it means so little and this book illustrates the point. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Bonner '62
4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, even poignant, clever without being glib
Compared to "Empire Falls," "Straight Man" delivers Richard Russo at his funniest and comparatively light on the heartbreak - although there is something extremely wrenching about... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Rett01
5.0 out of 5 stars Made me laugh out loud
I enjoy reading, but am by no means an avid reader. That's why Straight Man was such a wonderful surprise. It is - by far - the funniest book I've ever read. Read more
Published 7 months ago by D. Cripe
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Heart warming
This is straight up one of the funniest books I've read. The situations in which the main character finds himself might ring false to anyone NOT in academe, but for anyone who has... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Book Addict
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When my nose finally stops bleeding and I've disposed of the bloody paper towels, Teddy Barnes insists on driving me home in his ancient Honda Civic, a car that refuses to die and that Teddy, cheap as he is, refuses to trade in. Read the first page
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harassment lunch, campus executive officer, donkey basketball game, fake nose
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William Henry Devereaux, Richard Russo, Jacob Rose, Billy Quigley, Paul Rourke, Allegheny Wells, Dickie Pope, Lou Steinmetz, William of Occam, Tony Coniglia, Modern Languages, Hank Devereaux, Bodie Pie, Meg Quigley, Phil Watson, William Cherry, Lucky Hank, Occam's Razor, Missy Blaylock, The Tracks, Mike Law, New York, The Circle, Terence Watters, June Barnes
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This book cites 10 books:
Bleak House (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens on page 213, page 214, and page 346
Bleak House (Macmillan Readers) by Dickens on page 213, page 214, and page 346
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in Front Matter
Great Gatsby (Penguin Longman Reader Level 5) by Fitzgerald F Scott in Front Matter
Good Morning (English and Irish Edition) by Lucinda Jacob on page 154 See all 10 books this book cites
45 books cite this book:
Faculty Towers: The Academic Novel and Its Discontents (Personal Takes) by Elaine Showalter on 4 pages
The King's English, Adventures of an Independent Bookseller by Betsy Burton in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
Imagining the Academy: Higher Education and Popular Culture by Susan Edgerton in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
Romances of the Archive in Contemporary British Fiction by Suzanne Keen in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Discipline of Religion: Structure, Meaning, Rhetoric by Russell T. McCutcheon on page 133, and Back Matter See all 45 books citing this book
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