Straight Man
A Novel
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- 7,99 €
Publisher Description
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 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, poignant, compassionate, and unforgettable.
Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In many ways, William Henry “Hank” Devereaux, Jr., is the quintessential English professor: He’s brilliant, witty, and a little bit out of his mind. On the eve of Hank’s 50th birthday, his life starts to fall apart. All the professional and personal encounters that send Hank spiraling—with clueless students, drunken co-workers, visiting poets, and an ill-tempered goose—are laugh-out-loud ridiculous. Richard Russo, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls, is a master of slipping earnest, deeply felt sentiments into even his funniest novels. Hank’s quirky sense of humor and obvious sensitivity keep Russo’s protagonist in our good graces, even as he makes a bigger and bigger fool of himself. Straight Man invites us to learn from its hero’s hilarious mistakes—Hank’s week from hell ultimately provides some truly beautiful rules for living.
