Straight Man by Richard Russo

My latest is about William Henry Devereaux Jr. ("Hank") - a 50-year-old college professor at a small rural Pennsylvania university. In the course of a single week (of course while his wife is away, tending to her nutty father), Devereaux will have his nose mangled by an angry colleague, imagine his wife is having an affair with more than one friend, 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 realization that his youth is a mere thing of the past, and the ominous failure of certain vital body functions.

This is the 3rd Richard Russo that I've read and it's also my least favorite. In fact, out of 5 stars? I give it a generous 3 (really I give it 2 1/2 but I'm trying to be nice here...okay so 2 stars...I give it 2 stars). It tried too hard to be clever and witty while in the end it was annoying and mundane...depressing really. The characters were all a bunch of putzes (the most likable character in the book was the goose) and more than a handful of times, I wanted to put it down and start something else. In reality, I skimmed the last half of the book but my recommendation to you would be not to put yourself through this...don't read it at all...waste of time.

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

I know I've been a slow reader lately but in reality, I've been reading rather lengthy books. The latest is no exception. This is the second Richard Russo I've read and it was as good, if not better than the first. The Bridge of Sighs revolves around three main characters really: Lou "Lucy" Lynch, a "simple" man with simple pleasures who prefers living his life burying the complex secrets of his past; Lou's wife Sarah Berg - a woman caught living in two worlds - the separate world of her parents whom she splits her childhood with (summers with her flighty, alcoholic somewhat slutty mother and the rest of her time with her seemingly schizophrenic, self-absorbed, pot-smoking father who would rather forget his daughter for a novel he's writing that will never be finished); last is Bobby Marconi, the boy/man whom neither Lou nor Sarah have seen since he left their hometown after graduation at 18; a person that neither can let go but both, at times would like to forget. The novel takes place in Thomaston, New York - a rather small town in the upper part of the state. It spans about 60 years and weaves itself through the lives of the Lynches, Bergs and Marconis - three families whose lives intersect each other even through the reluctance of certain members of the families. Throughout the novel, the chapters switch "narrator" so that the reader gets an undisguised glimpse into each family and all their secrets. These secrets and the nuances of each family are slowly revealed throughout the novel - secrets that when revealed could leave the lives of Sarah, Lou and Bobby forever changed and not necessarily for the better.

This was a super book! I love the back and forth history of the characters and getting to know them through their human faults and feelings. Richard Russo always does such an amazing job in allowing his characters to be real, human, not-so-perfect. I could never relate to a person who had no faults and it's nice to read a novel whose main characters frustrate you and make you crazy (if only for a chapter or two) in order to reveal the characteristics that all of us have. Read it...you'll love it.

I'm now on to The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I've read it before but wanted to read it again before seeing the movie (which comes out January 15th). If you haven't read it...do...it's tough and raw and shocking and not for the faint of heart but it's such a good piece of writing.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

I am now on to Empire Falls. This happens to be a Pulitzer Prize winner and already (1 chapter in) I'm totally diggin it. Interestingly, Russo reads like a Fannie Flagg book (compliments) in the way he makes his characters seem quaint/quirky in a small town wish-I-lived-there way. This one's about Miles Roby, the forty-ish proprietor of the local greasy spoon and the recently divorced father of a teenage daughter (queerly named "Tick" - I haven't read yet why that is). In addition, there is a long list of secondary characters all living life in a run-down, depressed, small New England mill town (in Maine) where every one's life seems to clash with each other. Much is touched on by Russo in this novel including love, lust, loss, economic frustrations and of course out of reach dreams. Pretty much what we all seem to deal with every day in our every day lives. I'm already loving this book and will certainly let you know the outcome.

Update:  Okay, so...I finished Empire Falls. Loved it! What a good storyteller Richard Russo is. The characters were so full of life and the main character was so real and I felt such...sympathy and, yet I don't know...the author just instilled in the reader such a sense of anger FOR Miles (the main character). I wanted to jump into the novel and kick all the asses of all the people that were doing him wrong and making such a fine man question his own goodness! A writer can't do wrong when his words make you want to move to Maine and find a greasy diner to waitress in, hoping that the short order cook just happens to be a man named Miles Roby. Read it...I think you'll understand.