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As mentioned on the homepage, I envision this as an "Alan Recommends" page--though I will certainly leave room for other reactions. If the author is fairly modern (i.e. has their own web page) you can click on their name and be directed right there. I hope to edit this page regularly, so check back often!
Straight Man
Richard Russo:
 | I’ve had this one on the shelf for a while, then picked it up on a whim only to be hooked by the offbeat narrator, colorful supporting cast, and crisp setting. Its rare, in my experience, to come across a genuinely funny book—not slapstick or farcical, but funny, where the humor comes from internal characterization, rather than external silliness. |
The first person protagonist in Straight Man is William Henry Deveraux Jr., a creative writing professor at a Pennsylvania rust-belt university whose lone, two-decades old published book sustains his frustration as it sparks the begrudging respect (and even awe) of his colleagues. While the other characters are fun, the real humor of the work comes from Deveraux’s anarchic spirit and limited social perception; he consistently ignites controversy amongst his colleagues (he holds the position of temporary chair in the face of looming departmental cuts) then remains unwilling or unable to grasp the ramifications of his actions, making his most entertaining feature his most humanizing. When Deveraux’s limited perspective is coupled with his wry, engaging voice, and Russo’s sleek but compact structure (the novel takes place in the span of a week) the result is a compelling, comfortable narrator who easily weaves his way through plots as various as the imagined indigressions of his wife, the real degeneration of his literati father, and the recurring hostage crisis of the local goose population (trust me; that last one is credible).
I’m currently reading Empire Falls, for which Russo won the Pulitzer. I’ll post on that one soon, but for the moment Straight Man gets a definite recommendation.
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