"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Though Hank tries to apply William of Occam's rational approach (choose simplicity) to each increasingly absurd situation, and even has a dog named after the philosopher, he does seem to cause most of his own enormous difficulties. Not least when he grabs a goose and threatens to off a duck (sic) a day until he gets his budget. The fact that he is also wearing a fake nose and glasses and doing so in front of a TV camera complicates matters even further. Hank tries to explain to one class that comedy and tragedy don't go together, but finds the argument "runs contrary to their experience. Indeed it may run contrary to my own." It runs decidedly against Richard Russo's approach in Straight Man, and the result is a hilarious and touching novel.
"What makes Richard Russo so admirable as a novelist is that his natural grace as a storyteller is matched by his compassion for his characters."
-- John Irving
"Russo proves himself a master at evoking the sights, feelings and smells of a town ... He has succeeded in creating characters with the emotional weight of people we've known in real life."
--The New York Times
"After the last sentence is read, the reader continues to see Russo's tender, messed-up people coming out of doorways, lurching through life. And keeps on seeing them because they are as real as we are."
-- E. Annie Proulx
"It's about time that people looking for a good read discovered the novels of Richard Russo."
-- Publisher's Weekly
"Richard Russo's novel is as simple as family love, yet nearly as complicated."
-- San Francisco Chronicle
"Self-knowledge, along with love in all its forms, from lifelong friendships to consuming sexual passions, is what this remarkably likable, beautifully written novel is all about."
-- Washington Post Book World
"Funny, bighearted, resolutely untrendy, ultimately moving ... at once a delightful entertainment and a wise handbook for living."
-- New York Newsday
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 1376130-n
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780099376217
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A 'funny and tender' (Daily Telegraph) novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Empire FallsHank Devereaux, a fifty-year-old, one-time novelist now serving as temporary chair of the English department, has more than a mid-life crisis to contend with when he learns that he must cull 20 per cent of his department to meet budget. Half in love with three women, unable to understand his younger daughter or come to terms with his father, he has a dangerous philosophy that life, and academic life, could be simpler, but he fails to see the larger consequences of his own actions or of the small-world politics that ebb and flow around him, as his colleagues jostle for position and marriages fall apart and regroup. The despair of his wife, and the scourge of the campus geese, he is a man at odds with himself and caught somewhere between cause and effect. Hank Devereaux, a fifty-year-old, one-time novelist now serving as temporary chair of the English department, has more than a mid-life crisis to contend with when he learns that he must cull 20 per cent of his department to meet budget. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780099376217
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780099376217
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 4216145
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780099376217-GDR
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 416 pages. 7.80x5.04x0.94 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0099376210
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0099376210
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Hank Devereaux, a fifty-year-old, one-time novelist now serving as temporary chair of the English department, has more than a mid-life crisis to contend with when he learns that he must cull 20 per cent of his department to meet budget. Seller Inventory # B9780099376217
Book Description Condition: New. 1998. New Ed. Paperback. At age fifty, Professor William Henry Devereaux, Jr, has more than a mid-life crisis to deal with. As a child, his parents found him merely exasperating. Half in love with three women, unable to understand his daughter or come to terms with his father, Hank has a dangerous philosophy. Num Pages: 416 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 203 x 133 x 26. Weight in Grams: 286. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780099376217