I have a soft spot in my heart for Richard Russo and his ability to make hapless and problematic white men, often working-class white men, likeable protagonists. These men make questionable choices, they have huge blind spots about themselves and others, and they exasperate the women in the their lives quite a bit. Yet, they are enjoyable to spend time with, perhaps because at their core, there is decency. In Everybody’s Fool, the sequel of sorts to Nobody’s Fool, Russo returns to the small upstate […]
I lure you in with pictures of Paul Newman, then meander through conflicted feelings about straight white male protagonists.
Let’s get one thing out of the way before we review this book. This novel was adapted into a perfect movie. A perfect movie staring the inimitable Paul Newman. No, not that Paul Newman. He’s a few years older. Nope, keep going. Pretty close. But less huggable. More irascible. A Paul Newman who’s been through the ringer a few times. A Paul Newman who’s going through a stupid streak, and knows it won’t end until he’s messed things up completely. A Paul Newman who, while […]
Empire Falls Lite
I read Richard Russo’s Empire Falls a few years ago and described it as a slow burn. I put it down several times, thinking I was bored with it, but after a few days, I found myself thinking about the characters and then devouring 150 pages at a time. Mohawk had the same effect on me, only reduced by about 50%. Set in Mohawk, NY, a dying northern industrial town, Mohawk is very much like Empire Falls in that it’s not really about anything other […]
An interesting book that remains ignorant about the mysteries of womankind
You guys. This book. It was the weirdest mixed bag of WTFery and blah and intrigue that I’ve read in a long time. It was deeply confusing to read, and I experienced a lot of conflicting emotions (anger, boredom, anger, fear, bemusement) while reading. Let’s dig in, shall we? And of course, because I’m opportunistic, I left all the good stuff on my blog: the shade throwing, the snark, and a special guest star who expresses her disdain over the way women were treated in […]