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Straight Man:

A Novel
Front Cover
64 Reviews
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Jun 9, 1998 - Fiction - 391 pages
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.

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5 stars
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He's a pretty engaging writer to spend some time with. - Goodreads
Russo's writing style fits me well. - Goodreads
Self-reflective--about writing as well as life. - Goodreads
Writing being a phallocentric activity and all that. - Goodreads
It was ante Writer Working, so I couldn't look it up. - Goodreads
User Review - Flag as inappropriate

The majority of the members of our book club found this book entertaining and witty. Some members questioned the seeming lack of plot.

Review: Straight Man

User Review  - Chris - Goodreads

At first I found this book merely "funny" -- in an ongoing-chuckle (rather than laugh-out-loud) sort of way. Naturally it reminded me of my own 6 years as a grad student/adjunct professor in English ... Read full review

All 50 reviews »

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Contents

CHAPTER 1
3
CHAPTER 2
24
CHAPTER 3
34
Copyright

34 other sections not shown

Common terms and phrases

academic admits afternoon Allegheny Angelo aristocat Beowulf Billy Quigley campus chair daughter dean deck Dickie Pope donkey basketball door duck English department explain eyes face fact father feel Finny Finny's fucking going gone goose Gracie Gracie's Grendel's mother grin hand Hank head hear hell Herbert hot tub imagine Jacob Rose Jacob says Julie June Lily Lily's look Lou Steinmetz mean Missy morning mother never night nose Occam Occam's Razor Okay Orshee Patsy Cline Paul Rourke peckerwood Phil Watson pretty Purty Rachel racquetball Railton remember remind Richard Russo Russell scrapple seems sound stop story suggest sure suspect talking Teddy Teddy's tell there's thing thought told Tony Coniglia Tony's truth trying turn understand voice wants to know What's who's wife William Henry Devereaux William of Occam woman wonder wrong young

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References from web pages

Vintage Catalog | Straight Man by Richard Russo
The questions, discussion topics, and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your group's experience of reading Richard Russo's Straight Man. ...
www.randomhouse.com/ vintage/ catalog/ display.pperl?isbn=0375701907& view=rg

MOO2: Handout #1: Russo's Straight Man
Discuss the implications of “straight man” in this novel. Consider the idea of “straight man” in comedy. To whom or what does this concept apply? ...
moodeuce.blogspot.com/ 2005/ 03/ handout-1-russos-straight-man.html

Chronicle Careers: 6/18/2004: Avoiding the Role of Straight Man
In Straight Man, Russo's 1997 novel, violence against department heads becomes literal, if unintended. At the start of the novel, the chairman of the ...
chronicle.com/ jobs/ 2004/ 06/ 2004061801c.htm

Straight man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Straight man may refer to:. An archetypal comic foil, especially in a comedy duo; a character whose seriousness, obliviousness or both conflicts with one or ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Straight_man

On Richard Russo’s Straight Man « Tales from the Reading Room
Do I read the Straight Man, which I WANT to read after this wonderful review, or do I read King Leopold’s Ghost, which I promised myself I’d read? ...
litlove.wordpress.com/ 2006/ 07/ 13/ on-richard-russos-straight-man/

book-blog.com: Russo, Richard: Straight Man
So it wasn't until chapter 28 of Richard Russo's Straight Man that I broke my silence. ... There are passages in Straight Man that demand re-reading, ...
dhamel.typepad.com/ book_blog/ 2003/ 05/ straight_man_by.html

John’s Blog » Blog Archive » Straight Man, by Richard Russo
You’re currently reading “Straight Man, by Richard Russo,” an entry on John’s Blog. Published: 09.13.04 / 7pm. Category: Books ...
john.jubjubs.net/ 2004/ 09/ 13/ straight-man-by-richard-russo/

Straight man by Richard Russo | librarything
All about Straight man by Richard Russo. librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers.
www.librarything.com/ work/ 5912

Screwball U.
STRAIGHT MAN By Richard Russo. 391 pp. New York: Random House. $25. ... Before ''Straight Man'' ends, in an epilogue that jumps us from April to August, ...
www.nytimes.com/ books/ 97/ 07/ 06/ reviews/ 970706.haven.html

Blondie Reads: Straight Man
Straight Man (Richard Russo) picked up babysitting me where the previous book left off. I guess you could say I went from girl-mind to boy-mind. ...
www.blondiereads.com/ 2007/ 05/ straight-man.html

About the author (1998)

Richard Russo lives in coastal Maine with his wife and their two daughters. He has written five novels: Mohawk, The Risk Pool, Nobody’s Fool, Straight Man, and Empire Falls, and a collection of stories, The Whore’s Child.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Straight Man
TitleStraight Man: A Novel
Vintage Contemporaries
Vintage books
AuthorRichard Russo
Editionreprint
PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1998
ISBN0375701907, 9780375701900
Length391 pages
Subjects › 

Fiction / Humorous
Fiction / Literary
  
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