Ratings1
Average rating5
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls comes a wonderfully funny novel set in Mohawk, New York, where Ned Hall is doing his best to grow up, even though neither of his estranged parents can properly be called adult. "Superbly original and maliciously funny." —The New York Times Book Review His father, Sam, cultivates bad habits so assiduously that he is stuck at the bottom of his auto insurance risk pool. His mother, Jenny, is slowly going crazy from resentment at a husband who refuses either to stay or to stay away. As Ned veers between allegiances to these grossly inadequate role models, Richard Russo gives us a book that overflows with outsized characters and outlandish predicaments and whose vision of family is at once irreverent and unexpectedly moving. Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon.
Reviews with the most likes.
Excellent writing, like every Russo novel I've read. Fairly moving at times, covers childhood (mostly) and adult years of narrators life with his parents, mostly his father. I'm not too into the child point of view thing, but the writing and story were very good.
I'd start with Empire Falls or the Straight Man, but after those, this is an excellent choice.
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