Russo hits his trademark trifecta: satisfying, hilarious, and painlessly profound.
A sequel to the great Nobody’s Fool (1993) checks in on the residents of poor old North Bath, New York, 10 years later.
In his breakout third novel, Russo (Elsewhere, 2012, etc.) introduced a beat-up cast of variously broke, overweight, senile, adulterous, dissolute, and philosophical citizens of a ruined resort town, living out their luckless lives between a bar known as the Horse and a diner called Hattie’s Lunch. Cock of the walk was Sully, the gruff but softhearted practical joker/construction worker played by Paul Newman in the movie. Now past 70, Sully is back with a nest egg (his trifecta came in twice; his landlady left him her house), serious health problems, and a dog named Rub. Since his best friend is a mentally challenged dwarf also named Rub, this causes confusion. Wisely, Russo moves Sully off center stage and features one of his nemeses from the first book, a pathetic police officer named Douglas Raymer (Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film). Raymer is now the chief of police, and the novel follows him and other characters through an action-packed two-day period that includes a funeral, a building collapse, an escaped cobra, a grave robbery, multiple lightning strikes, assaults, and auto thefts, strung together with the page-turning revelations about the characters’ private lives Russo does so well. Now it’s the 1990s, so the characters’ weaknesses include hoarding, OCD, depression, sex addiction/impotence, and a mild case of multiple personality disorder. Chief Raymer is tormented by his beautiful wife’s horrible death, by a sophisticated colleague from the yuppie town next door, and by the malaprop motto he accidentally had printed on his campaign cards: “We’re Not Happy Until You’re Not Happy.” Who is this Douglas Raymer, his English teacher used to write on his papers, and it will take a whole lot of hell breaking loose for him to find the answer. For maximum pleasure, read Nobody’s Fool first.
Russo hits his trademark trifecta: satisfying, hilarious, and painlessly profound.Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-307-27064-1
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
Mandel’s solid writing and magnetic narrative make for a strong combination in what should be a breakout novel.
Survivors and victims of a pandemic populate this quietly ambitious take on a post-apocalyptic world where some strive to preserve art, culture and kindness.
In her fourth novel, Mandel (The Lola Quartet, 2012, etc.) moves away from the literary thriller form of her previous books but keeps much of the intrigue. The story concerns the before and after of a catastrophic virus called the Georgia Flu that wipes out most of the world’s population. On one side of the timeline are the survivors, mainly a traveling troupe of musicians and actors and a stationary group stuck for years in an airport. On the other is a professional actor, who dies in the opening pages while performing King Lear, his ex-wives and his oldest friend, glimpsed in flashbacks. There’s also the man—a paparazzo-turned-paramedic—who runs to the stage from the audience to try to revive him, a Samaritan role he will play again in later years. Mandel is effectively spare in her depiction of both the tough hand-to-mouth existence of a devastated world and the almost unchallenged life of the celebrity—think of Cormac McCarthy seesawing with Joan Didion. The intrigue arises when the troupe is threatened by a cult and breaks into disparate offshoots struggling toward a common haven. Woven through these little odysseys, and cunningly linking the cushy past and the perilous present, is a figure called the Prophet. Indeed, Mandel spins a satisfying web of coincidence and kismet while providing numerous strong moments, as when one of the last planes lands at the airport and seals its doors in self-imposed quarantine, standing for days on the tarmac as those outside try not to ponder the nightmare within. Another strand of that web is a well-traveled copy of a sci-fi graphic novel drawn by the actor’s first wife, depicting a space station seeking a new home after aliens take over Earth—a different sort of artist also pondering man’s fate and future.
Mandel’s solid writing and magnetic narrative make for a strong combination in what should be a breakout novel.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-35330-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Station Eleven Miniseries to Star Mackenzie Davis
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
A fast, feel-good story about finding happiness.
A woman attempts to overhaul her life with the help of an unconventional therapist in Giordano’s debut.
Camille is a 30-something Parisian woman with a husband, son, and a good job. She has security, love, and everything she needs—so why does she feel bored and unhappy? When she has a minor car accident during a storm, she stumbles into the home of a man who, conveniently, offers to help her fix her life. Claude deduces that Camille is suffering from a case of acute routinitis, a “sickness of the soul” that means she’s dissatisfied, unmotivated, and unhappy even though she has everything she needs. Claude, as a routinologist, devises an unconventional course of treatment for Camille, one that has her completing some tasks that are simple (such as spring cleaning her house) and some that are slightly odder (such as riding in a hot air balloon) to transform her life. Although Claude’s methods are unusual, Camille hopes they will help her find a deeper connection with her husband and son and perhaps even a better understanding of herself. Giordano has created a quick and light read, but without much information about Camille’s backstory, it’s hard to get invested in her transformation. Claude presents interesting ideas about philosophy and personal growth, but none of them are explored with much complexity. Although it lacks depth at times, it may be a good pick for readers who are looking for a lighter take on Eat, Pray, Love.
A fast, feel-good story about finding happiness.Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-53559-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
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