Straight Man: A Novel

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.

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.

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.


"The truth is, we never know for sure about ourselves."   January 15, 2004
D. Mikels (Skunk Holler)
48 out of 51 found this review helpful

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


A very funny, serious novel   January 13, 2000
J. Mullin (Plantation, FL USA)
40 out of 42 found this review helpful

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.


Duck, duck, goose   June 25, 2002
JessH
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

"Straight Man" is a novel about Hank, a middle-aged college professor who is the temporary chair of the English department at a `second-rate' university in Pennsylvania. The novel is told in first person so we get to see things from Hank's point of view and get his take on everything going on around him. He wonders how he got stuck at West Central Pennsylvania University and why he never moved on to something/someplace greater and more esteemed. Hank treats everything in his life as a joke: from the academic politics at his university, to his relationships with family and friends; from his painful, inability to urinate, to his lackluster students. As the novel proceeds, Hank quickly becomes buried under a pile of bizarre & amusing (for the reader at least!) problems.

The story was entertaining and funny. "Straight Man" is the first Richard Russo novel that I have read and I was very impressed. The writing in this book was excellent and I look forward to reading Russo's "Empire Falls" soon.

"Straight Man" reminded me of Chabon's "Wonder Boys", since they are both humorous books about English professors having a midlife crisis. If you enjoy "Straight Man", I would also recommend that you read "Wonder Boys".


Many laughs throughout!   November 26, 1999
James T. King (Chagrin Falls, OH USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

It is w/o question the funniest tale of teaching I've ever read. The funds-challenged liberal arts department with its washed-up, burnt-out profs running only on ego and envy is perfectly drawn. It is a tale told by a wag of a wit acting as the interim head. While it does feel more like a man's than a woman's narrative (the way Kingsolver does w/ women), it is such a hoot that all can enjoy it. The goose on the cover cryptically says it all! Otherwise, the book probes many interpersonal snafus, puzzles, and conflicts within a family of intellectuals.

I've already sent it off to friends embarking on their myriad campus careers. Two have already informed me that they're busily taking notes....