"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
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.
"What makes Richard Russo so admirable as a novelist is that his natural grace as a storyteller is matched by his compassion for his characters."
-- John Irving
"Russo proves himself a master at evoking the sights, feelings and smells of a town ... He has succeeded in creating characters with the emotional weight of people we've known in real life."
--The New York Times
"After the last sentence is read, the reader continues to see Russo's tender, messed-up people coming out of doorways, lurching through life. And keeps on seeing them because they are as real as we are."
-- E. Annie Proulx
"It's about time that people looking for a good read discovered the novels of Richard Russo."
-- Publisher's Weekly
"Richard Russo's novel is as simple as family love, yet nearly as complicated."
-- San Francisco Chronicle
"Self-knowledge, along with love in all its forms, from lifelong friendships to consuming sexual passions, is what this remarkably likable, beautifully written novel is all about."
-- Washington Post Book World
"Funny, bighearted, resolutely untrendy, ultimately moving ... at once a delightful entertainment and a wise handbook for living."
-- New York Newsday
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Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780375701900
Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Straight Man 0.69. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780375701900
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Hilarious and true-to-life, witty, compassionate, and impossible to put down, Straight Man follows Hank Devereaux through one very bad week in this novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls. Now the AMC Original Series Lucky Hank.William Henry Devereaux, Jr., is 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 characterhe is a born anarchistand 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 Russoside-splitting, poignant, compassionate, and unforgettable.Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon. In "the funniest serious novel . . . since "Portnoy's Complaint"" ("New York Times Book Review"), the bestselling author of "Nobody's Fool" introduces Henry Deveraux--reluctant chairman of the English department at a badly underfunded college--who's slowly coming to terms with his dysfunctional life. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780375701900