Nobody’s Fool. Everybody’s Fool. Somebody’s Fool. Well, every book Richard Russo writes proves that none of those characterization apply to him. Russo earned the Pulitzer Prize when he wrote about a town called Empire Falls, but when he penned Nobody’s Fool in 1993 he clearly started something: something big, anguished, funny, filled with desperation yet very compelling. And though this latest is called Somebody’s Fool, it certainly reminds us that Russo’s favorite novel name does not include him. And word is there’s yet another “fool”-book to come.
Imagine, for example, a town named Bath. This Bath has a relatively long history but is, these days, struggling to survive and finally relents to being incorporated into the more flourishing city next door. Russo early on asks the question: “How had all this come to pass? Well, the recession the whole damn country was still in the middle of was partly to blame, but many argued that the town had been circling the drain long before that.” Still, its long-standing citizens must carry on their duties and tend to their (mostly) very fraught lives. What about the town’s men in blue, for example, who now (temporarily?) have a woman to lead them? What about the tavern owners, the restaurant owners, the hotel owners, the operators of filling stations, the guys who tow cars? Should they sell? Upgrade? Improve? Please show me the money to do that! What about the teachers at the local JC? What about former citizens who’ve earlier fled, but now feel they’ve left their lives in the streets and feel compelled to return? Everyone’s looking for a better life, right? A life that makes sense, a love that will last, despite all the troubles that have gone on before? And what about . . . . . . Sully?
Oh, yes, Sully! Sully is dead, of course, but Sully’s ghost is everywhere. Sully is that most unforgettable character from Russo’s first “fool” book, Nobody’s Fool, (played by Paul Newman in the movie), a difficult man who frequented a particular tavern where his stool is still labeled! He bore children who now argue and fuss about their past relationship with him, a struggle that never seems never to go away.
In fact, every character in the book carries a wagonload of problems: they spar, they fight, they yell, they drink; each struggles to find happiness, and most to find . . . LOVE! Do they find it? Stay tuned!
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