Straight Man cover art

Straight Man

A Novel

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Straight Man

By: Richard Russo
Narrated by: Sam Freed
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About this listen

 William Henry Devereaux, Jr., spiritually suited to playing left field but forced by a bad hamstring to try first base, is the unlikely chairman of the English department at West Central Pennsylvania University. Over the course of a single convoluted week, he threatens to execute a duck, has his nose slashed by a feminist poet, discovers that his secretary writes better fiction than he does, suspects his wife of having an affair with his dean, and finally confronts his philandering elderly father, the one-time king of American Literary Theory, at an abandoned amusement park.

Such is the canvas of Richard Russo's Straight Man, a novel of surpassing wit, poignancy, and insight. As he established in his previous books -- Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool -- Russo is unique among contemporary authors for his ability to flawlessly capture the soul of the wise guy and the heart of a difficult parent. In Hank Devereaux, Russo has created a hero whose humor and identification with the absurd are mitigated only by his love for his family, friends, and, ultimately, knowledge itself.

Unforgettable, compassionate, and laugh-out-loud funny, Straight Man cements Richard Russo's reputation as one of the master storytellers of our time.© 1997 Richard Russo; (P) 2003 Random House, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Small Town & Rural Comedy Witty Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

"The funniest serious novel I have read since—well, maybe since Portnoy's Complaint." —The New York Times Book Review

"There is a big, wry heart beating at the center of Russo's fiction." —The New Yorker

"[Russo] skewers academic pretensions and infighting with mad abandon...in a clear and muscular prose that is a pleasaure to read....I had to stop often to guffaw, gasp, wheeze, and wipe away my tears." —Chicago Sun-Times

"Bursting with humor and insight." —USA Today
All stars
Most relevant

What made the experience of listening to Straight Man the most enjoyable?

A delightful listen from beginning to end, packed with subtle and wry observations on all the characters. Although the story is essentially silly and focuses largely on the characters foibles and weakness, it does so with wisdom and kindness.

Have you listened to any of Sam Freed’s other performances? How does this one compare?

The narrator of Richard Russo's Risk Pool was much better. Sam Freed is a competent reader and captures the subtle wit but isn't one of my favourite voices and there were many occasions when I was confused whether a sentence was dialogue or reflection.

Any additional comments?

I was so pleased with Risk Pool I went straight on to this by the same author. My enthusiasm is still high so I will try a third.

Full of subtle wit and insight

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Russo has a control over his craft which must the envy of other writers. He creates characters so real in settings so believable that you instantly forget this is fiction and assume you are reading about people you know. This is one of his funnier books but the deceptive simplicity, the easy pace and the genuine characters you expect from one of his books are all there.
I love the unhurried way he allows this story to unfold, the subtle building of tension and the fact that I care about all of the people in the narrative.

Masterful

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I have long been a fan of Richard Russo and particularly have enjoyed listening to his books as talking books, as the readers bring the characters to life so well.



This book kept me involved from start to finish. I loved the different characters and their (often surprising) interactions. Sometimes I felt the 'hero' went too far but he always then did something that redeemed him - in my view.



At the end, I felt I had lost some good friends and I look forward to listening to another book by the same author, also to listening to this again after a few months.

Loved it

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This was an enjoyable story which was time well spent, marred by the fact that Sam Freed's narration is devoid of nuance.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Straight Man?

The episode where Hank first threatens to kill a duck a day was a highlight of the plot.

What didn’t you like about Sam Freed’s performance?

When there is a lot of dialogue it sometimes becomes confusing, because he makes little effort to change tone for each character. Otherwise, he is quite good in his delivery.

Good story let down by a poor narration.

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