Nobody's Fool (1993)

This is one of those books where I am torn about my final appraisal. On the one hand, it is a very good book written in the style that Russo does so well - detailed descriptions and stories from people's lives that make them very real. Even some of the relatively minor characters are given sufficient back story to keep them from being cliché. On the other hand, after spending all this time with the characters (a very enjoyable time), I felt there wasn't a whole lot that brought the story to an end. Sure, some of the story lines were wrapped up (but not all –and that is appropriate.) And there was a conclusion of sorts. But it ended with a whimper and, while I don't need a bang (as occurred in Russo's Empire Falls), I do need at least some pop.

This is the story, told primarily over Thanksgiving and Christmas, of a small town and the strange characters that inhabit it. The primary focus is on Sully, a hard-luck character that knows he has made his own bad times as well as good. He is fooling around with another man's wife (it seems everyone is fooling around with someone), he is trying to get disability while continuing to work odd jobs, and he has an ex-wife and an adult son– the former of which wishes to forget him and the latter who can't figure out how he feels about him. There is the promise of major development in the town that will help everyone. There is also the old lady who is Sully's landlady who seems to care more for Sully than her own son (the "rich" banker). There is the developer who fools around with everyone even though he is with the most beautiful woman in town. And there are even more characters.

You notice how my description of the story is more about the people than a story? That is because there really isn't a major story driving this narrative. That is not a bad thing. The multiple small, intertwined stories more than make up for the lack of big narrative.

And, yes they are interesting people, but I wonder. Are they real? Do people really act this way? Is this a part of what it is to grow up in a small town? I do not know. But, in spite of the reality Russo brings to the story, I still feel that reality is stretched – stretched enough that I am not completely immersed in the believability of the story.

As I say. This is a good book. The stories of the people propel the reader forward. But somehow the cumulative effect of all those small stories does not a big story make. ( )

maybe someday I'll pick it back up, but I just can't get through the rest. I'm only halfway through and that means 250 more pages.

https://sites.google.com/a/toonen.org/www/readers-advisory/Nobodys Fool.doc ( )

I had never read this book by Russo. His depiction of human nature is so on the mark without getting maudlin and preachy. I really hated to come to the end of the book. ( )

Donald Sullivan, or Sully, is going back to construction work on a busted knee, endangering his slim chances of full disability, against the advice of friends and his longsuffering lawyer. Admitting to himself his penchant for stubborn ‘stupid streaks’, in which even his best intentions lead to catastrophic consequences, he endeavours to keep one limping step ahead of his own downfall. His estranged son joins him in working on a local house, his best friend sulks jealously at the inclusion of this new work mate, his landlady resists the urging of her own son to oust the dangerous, negligent Sully from the flat above hers, and Sully doggedly follows the path of most resistance over an obstacle course of self-made disasters.

Russo’s Nobody’s Fool is one of my favourite contemporary American novels, and also a frequent reread of mine, but now that I come to review it, I can’t quite explain why I find it comforting and entertaining enough to keep returning to. Certainly, the dialogue is the companionable, joshing sort that keeps me grinning when I’m not spluttering with laughter, Russo’s description of the small town of Bath is delightful and imbues the place with a fading but unique character, and the characters themselves are as myriad and believable as any I’ve met on a page… but other books have accomplished this and been enjoyable, once only reads. I think the difference is that, with Nobody’s Fool, Russo has a achieved a network of relationships around Sully that keep him surrounded by – and rebounding off - a perfect mixture of affection, irritation, rivalry, negligent friendship, exasperated concern and even love. The plot is a gently meandering chart of Sully’s latest ‘stupid streak’ and how it affects his connections to the people in his life, and though it seems a subtle - almost trivial – limp forward, the end manages to leave the reader with a profound satisfaction. ( )