"Have I brought this on myself, I wonder, that people who know me refuse to take me seriously, while to virtual strangers my ironic sallies are received with staunch, serious outrage?"
Richard Russo's tale of the inane inner workings and petty politics of small-college, small-town Pennsylvania captures northern academia beautifully. "Straight Man" works mostly in satirical farce, but injects some surprisingly serious and melancholy moments toward the end -- a balance that is difficult to achieve and unique to Russo's talents.
To great effect, this novel combined elements of David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest" and John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces." At times in the story, you are left wondering who you should be rooting for -- which is not always an unwelcome effect.
" ... I see a truth I've long known -- that the world is divided between kids who grow up wanting to be their parents and those like us, who grow up wanting to be anything but. Neither group ever succeeds."
The author's decision to position the main character as an involuntary witness to his own life can be a bit off-putting, and seemingly vital figures are given short shrift.
This book is much funnier than "Empire Falls," which ended up at #5 in the Scooties Awards for 2018. While the former doesn't exhibit the heart and wistfulness of the latter, "Straight Man" displays a masterful wit and biting style that elevates it to similar heights.
"Which is why we have spouses and children and parents and colleagues and friends, because someone has to know us better than we know ourselves.
"We need them to tell us. We need them to say, 'I know you, Al. You're not the kind of man who.'"
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