(My categories sometimes confuse people, so I usually illustrate by pointing out that Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury is obviously a towering achievement but is a dreadful read) And finally, yes, the book made me want to explore more Russo books. While reading books I typically ask myself three questions: 1) is the book, in a literary sense, impressive? 2) is the book a good read? and 3) would I consider reading other works by the same author? Straight Man, as I’ve said, is on the light side in terms of literature, so in that sense it wasn’t particularly impressive.

In some was I was reminded, stylistically, of Joseph Heller, but without Heller’s nuance and with less wit. Russo’s blend of absurdist plot twists and characters who did not necessarily act funny, but were hilarious in their oddities, was a pleasant surprise. More often than not they are one-joke tomes that get repetitive quickly. While a bit on the light side, I did like it a lot. Russo’s Straight Man was a bit different from our usual book club fare, offering us a comical look at small-town university life and politics in place of the more somber books we’ve read recently. I’m not a book reviewer, but I can play that role. Posted by Chris on, 7:11:34, in reply to “Richard Russo’s Straight Man” In the meantime, I would like us to get the Straight Man discussions underway, you know, before we all forget about it.ĭo we have a volunteer in the house to kick start the discussions?

Straight man by richard russo