Straight Man

A Novel

By: Richard Russo

Narrated by: Sam Freed

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

William Henry Devereaux, Jr., spiritually suited to playing left field but forced by a bad hamstring to try first base, is the unlikely chairman of the English department at West Central Pennsylvania University. Over the course of a single convoluted week, he threatens to execute a duck, has his nose slashed by a feminist poet, discovers that his secretary writes better fiction than he does, suspects his wife of having an affair with his dean, and finally confronts his philandering elderly father, the one-time king of American Literary Theory, at an abandoned amusement park.

Such is the canvas of Richard Russo's Straight Man, a novel of surpassing wit, poignancy, and insight. As he established in his previous books—Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool—Russo is unique among contemporary authors for his ability to flawlessly capture the soul of the wise guy and the heart of a difficult parent. In Hank Devereaux, Russo has created a hero whose humor and identification with the absurd are mitigated only by his love for his family, friends, and, ultimately, knowledge itself.

Unforgettable, compassionate, and laugh-out-loud funny, Straight Man cements Richard Russo's reputation as one of the master storytellers of our time.

©1997 Richard Russo (P)2003 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The funniest serious novel I have read since—well, maybe since Portnoy's Complaint." —The New York Times Book Review

"[Russo] skewers academic pretensions and infighting with mad abandon...in a clear and muscular prose that is a pleasaure to read....I had to stop often to guffaw, gasp, wheeze, and wipe away my tears." —Chicago Sun-Times

"Bursting with humor and insight." —USA Today

Our best living American novelist.

Someone of great wisdom and as well a judge and consumer of terrific writing said that. I am wholly with him. 100%. I love Richard Russo, and have felt that way for a very long time. He writes in a way that most authors could only dream of doing. Russo's sense of humor is so wicked, and at the same time so loving and gentle, that you find yourself giggling and chuckling almost continuously. Really good humor is a rare thing indeed. Russo makes fun of himself, of his characters, some of whom are stand-ins for himself, and also of others who populate his novels. His sense of humor extends to life itself. I could describe some of the scenes that he creates, but it would not be nearly as funny in the reading. In this book, as in a few others, Russo takes aim at academia, and hits bullseye after bullseye. He spent a bit of time in this milieu, and so he knows whereof he speaks. A friend of mine once said that in capitalism, the prize is money. In politics, the prize is power. But in academia, who on earth knows what the prize is? Truer words...
Hank "Lucky Hank" Devereaux is the main character here. He and his father have the same name. Hank's glorious wife is Lily, whom he loves unreasonably. The couple have three daughters. Hank is the acting chair of the English Department at something like Western Pennsylvania State College in Railton, PA. I know that that is not quite accurate, but I will leave it up to you to correct me. I think that Railton is nearer Philly than Pittsburgh. The English department contains a small zoo of likely suspects: ineffectual schmucks, vicious predators, social climbers, failed poets, one-book novelists (one of whom Hank is) and so forth. The group spends hours upon hours tossing around many subjects without ever coming to a single conclusion. There are meaningless rebellions. Not much back-stabbing, as most are truly fond of each other. There is one hater, a guy named Roark, but he turns out to have no claws, like a spayed and domesticated cat. You absolutely must not miss the scene in which Hank, who has thoroughly peed his pants, is trapped up in the rafters above a room in which his colleagues are debating, among others things, his ouster. They say, "why does this room smell like urine?" They take a vote, and Hank blithely drops a voting slip down through the ceiling and onto the table. We never know whether Hank votes for or against his own ouster.
The predator in the department is a sad fifty-ish man who seduces female students and media reporters in his hot tub. With California wine, weed and other stuff. There are shaky marriages, good ones, divorces, reconciliations. Through all of this, Russo clearly loves his creations and never stabs them heartlessly. I had never heard of this narrator, Sam Freed, but I really admired his delivery of such fantastic material, which could easily fall flat in less skilled hands. Or, voices. Lungs, throats. Like that.
You cannot not like Mr. Russo. I won't hear of it.

A Keeper

Straight Man was a delight to listen to. Kudos to both the writer and reader. I will miss Henry's fine wit.

Funny to the End- Especially for Academics

I thoroughly enjoyed this older novel from Russo. It kept me laughing right to the very end as its college department chair hero resolves his mid-life career crisis.

Great Story Telling

Fantastic performance by the narrator. You felt like he was telling you the story himself. This is my first Richard Russo book. Well written and a compelling listen. I will be reading the others, I'm sure.

Great book and narrator!

This is the funniest novel about the politics in running a college department. Great characters! I laughed out loud throughout. Hated for it to end. I hope that Richard Russo writes a sequel.

Not sure of the moral to the story... lol

I'm not sure if there was supposed to be a moral to this story. Maybe there wasn't or maybe I just didn't get it. But I did really enjoy it. It was funny and felt real.

Just finished my 5th (6th?) listen of this book

Would you listen to Straight Man again? Why?

See headline ^^^^^^^.The deadpan, dead-on narration. The wonderful character development. The turn of phrase (and there are many) that still makes me laugh out loud spontaneously.

Who was the most memorable character of Straight Man and why?

Occam. The dog, not the man. I'm not a groiner by nature, but I can play that role...

Rick Russo is the Archie Bunker of English Dept

I had a bad opinion of Richard when I was initially listening through the first 10 chapters. He was making very unkind statements about a minority group that I am associated with. 20 years ago you could get away with that but not today.

Around the same time that I was listening to the first 10 chapters I was doing my federal taxes; the first one after Trump's new tax plan went into affect. Like most 2 income families I am getting screwed. I will be paying 7 times as much tax. This has the affect of making me quite cynical about everything.

I then restarted the audible book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A couple areas dragged but overall it was great. He still manages to offend just about everyone, but if you cannot laugh at yourself once in a while then your life is too serious.

Dry wit, ennui, & hijinx, but a bit flat

It has a few twists & turns, but it’s more of an extended character profile than a proper story. Still a fun read with some strong ideas.

Loved the book and performance

Full of great but subtle humor that may not (and apparently doesn’t) seem funny to some people!