Straight Man

Straight Man is the fifth Richard Russo novel I’ve read.  And I’ll say it’s a pretty standard Russo novel (not a bad thing).  Hank Devereaux is an English professor at a small Pennsylvania college.  He’s facing discord within the department, the potential loss of his job, a wife who’s dealing with issues with her father, a daughter on the brink of divorce, kidney stones, and his own dying father who shows back up on the scene many years after he abandoned his wife and son.  And as you can probably tell, it’s a comic novel.  Instead of going into a long-winded review, I’ll just say I enjoyed it like most of Russo’s work.  Amusing and real.  I still wish I could write like him.  And be as successful at writing as him. 

And since I’ve spared you the long review, I’ll subject you to a ranking of the five Russo novels that I’ve read:
 1)  Empire Falls – still the best
 2)  Straight Man – the most humorous of the bunch
 3)  Nobody’s Fool – in many ways similar to Empire Falls
 4)  Bridge of Sighs – was close to #3, but not as funny as the previous three
 5)  That Old Cape Magic – the one that I really didn't get in to
 
Next up:  Top Of The Rock by Warren Littlefield