
Straight Man
A Novel
Richard Russo(Author)
Vintage Books (Publisher)
Published on 9. June 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-375-70190-0 (ISBN)
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 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo.
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.
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.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Random House USA Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 129 mm
Width: 200 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
304 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-375-70190-0 (9780375701900)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Richard Russo | Sam Freed
Straight Man
Audio
01/2004
Books on Tape
€121.55
Article exhausted; check different version
Richard Russo
Straight Man
Book
03/1999
Random House Value Publishing
€23.67
Article exhausted; check different version
Richard Russo
Straight Man
Book
11/1998
Random House Value Publishing
€25.51
Article exhausted; check different version
Russo | Richard Russo | Sam Freed
Straight Man
Audio
Random House Audio Publishing Group
€65.99
The article will not be published
Person
Richard Russo