Straight Man
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 goose, 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.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
3mentions
2people
2010–2025years
67% recommend33% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Yes! Also Richard Russo's "Straight Man", which might be my favorite of all these novels about campus life.
- Book: Straight Man, by Richard Russo Why? It was funny. Might appeal more to those of us who have experienced academia.
- What is the source for a book description?
I ask because I just started listening to "Straight Man" by Richard Russo and looked it up on Shepherd. Shepherd mentions that "Straight Man" is being made into a TV series. That's out of date and Wikipedia has the up to date info (one season of a series based on "Straight Man" was created and called "Lucky Hank").
Cool site! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
