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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780375701900
ISBN: 0375701907
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: June 09, 1998
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: June 09, 1998
Sales Rank: 9700
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
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.
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.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
One week in the life of a slightly addled head of the English department on a satellite campus of a small public university in rural western Pennsylvania. It involves jeolous faculty, waterfowl at risk, one's responsibilies (whether wanted or not) to parents and children and the rewards of a devoted spouse. Richard Russo's brilliant command of the language makes every plot development into an exciting discovery. It's a great read.
Rating:  -
In "Straight Man," Department Chairperson and English Professor Hank Devereaux tells his students that comedy and tragedy are not to be mixed. He is a big fan of Occam's Razor, the philosophy of the medieval friar who preached for simplicity and against unnecessary pluralities. He is such a fan, he names his dog Occam. This novel narrated in Hank's self-deprecating voice immediately sets off showing how difficult it is to keep things simple, to prevent the comedy from colliding with tragedy. ... Read More
Rating: -
Russo is a magnificent story teller and has once again crafted a book that is impossible to put down. The book is written entirely from the point of view of William Henry Devereaux Jr, a middle aged, small town professor. He takes nothing in life seriously and enjoys making the people around him squirm. Hank's sarcastic commentary regarding his dysfunctional family and coworkers coupled with the embarrassing situations he manages to get himself into kept me laughing through the entire book.
Rating:  -
Russo may have written 'Straight Man' just to entertain himself; the reader's entertainment is a fortunate by-product.
Rating:  -
I think Richard Russo should leave the humor to Woody Allen or David Sedaris. The characters in this book where stiff like cardboard cut-outs. I never felt a thing for any of them. When humor is attempted with a group of stuff shirts it takes finesse and a certain amount of sophisticated humor. Mr. Russo does not have it with this book. I loved all his novels and I do believe he is one of the greatest writers of our time. I wish he would have left this book on his desk or collecting dust on the shelf.
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