Everybody's Fool

Any new Russo is cause for celebration, but I always wonder what writers are actually telling us when they return to their old characters: are they out of juice? Or do they miss their old friends like we do? In any case, this visit is so hilariously poignant and perfect that it's easy to slide right back onto a barstool in North Bath a/k/a Loserville, upstate NY, hard by the much cooler-stand-in-for-Saratoga-Springs-and-Skidmore town of Schuyler. And I rejoice to rejoin Sully, now 70, with a bad ticker, yet just like Paul Newman, Russo's doppleganger in all of his novels and in my imagination. There's also Ruth, Sully's part-time lover, his faithful and pitiful companion Rub, his faithful and smarter canine companion (also Rub), and the show more whole gamut of denizens smelling "like stale beer and overmatched urine cakes."

Sully despises Police Chief Raymer, who's got 99+ problems of his own, including a cobra, a brand new second personality, a stigmata, a dead wife, and the alleged butterfly tattoo on officer Charice Bond's ass.

The smooth flow between comedy and tragedy, between loud explosions and internal contemplation, is some of what makes Russo a hero to readers. The rest you can identify on your own when you open your copy. I'm headed for the back catalogue and especially "Nobody's Fool", and maybe even the movie too. show less

A decade or so after Richard Russo's “Nobody's Fool” ends, his “Everybody's Fool” (2016) begins. Sequels don't come any better.

If the title character in the earlier novel was Sully, an aging working man who discovers his place in the world is more important to more people than he ever realized, the title character this time has several contenders, for there are many fools here, but "everybody's fool" would seem to best describe Doug Raymer. the incompetent young police officer in the first book who by now has become the incompetent chief of police. He campaigned for the office with the slogan "We're not happy until you're not happy," yet was chosen anyway, suggesting perhaps that everybody's a fool in Bath, N.Y.

That the police show more department operates with any efficiency at all is due to Charice, his young, black dispatcher, on whom Raymer has a crush even as he still mourns for Becka, his wife who died in a fall down a flight of stairs while hurrying to run away with another man. His only clue to the identity of that man is a garage-door opener. Finding which door that device opens distracts the chief from his duties, even as those duties escalate with a series of crimes in normally placid Bath. One of those crimes, digging up a judge's grave in the middle of the night, is committed by Raymer himself, with the help of Sully and Carl Roebuck, the playboy builder whose business hangs by a thread.

Sully now has a serious heart problem and is given just a year or two to live, at most. Other characters, some of them reprising roles from the earlier novel, include Rub Squeers, a simple-minded man who only wishes to be Sully's best friend; Jerome, Charice's hot-shot brother who turns out to have even bigger problems than Raymer; Ruth, the woman who operates the local diner and whose not-so-secret affair with Sully is now on hold; Zack, her seemingly worthless husband who may actually be worth more than she realizes; and Roy Purdy, their son-in-law, who constantly updates his grudge list of those upon whom he plans violent revenge.

Russo keeps his story moving spritely, humor and pathos alternating and sometimes striking the heart at the same time. These novels are as pleasurable as any one is likely to find. You'd be a fool not to read them both, preferably in order. show less

I was delighted to hear that there would be a sequel to Nobody's Fool. I loved that book and always felt that Sully was one of my favorite literary characters. Everybody's Fool just accentuated how much I loved reading about those familiar characters in Bath, New York and solidified Sully as my favorite, now 70 year old curmudgeon with a heart of gold. This novel fleshed out the character of Douglas Raymer as well who becomes more interesting after he is struck by lightning and who will forever,in my mind, be associated with garage door openers. Though Miss Beryl People's has passed on, Russo manages to weave her influence on Raymer and Sully into the well plotted story line. I often read reviews where "laugh out loud" is used as a show more description. This may be the first time I have experienced it personally. Russo has some wonderful characters that find themselves in desperate predicaments, but through it all there is grace or at least justice in how they handle their burden. Highly recommend to all, but do yourself a favor and read Nobody's Fool first. It's not an essential appetizer , but it makes this second course all the better. Mr. Russo - I hope there can be a final installment. Like Updike's Rabbit, I can see the title: A Fool At Rest. show less

Despite feeling that the book was too long (maybe what I mean is "too heavy to hold comfortably for very long"?) I really enjoyed this novel. Lots of extremely quirky-but-real characters, some sympathetic, some wicked, some truly likeable; many story lines tangled together but not confusing; several laugh-out-loud moments (very welcome just now); wonderful dialog and farcical situations. Couldn't help picturing Paul Newman and Bruce Willis in the roles of Sully and Carl (which they played in Nobody's Fool years ago), and that didn't hurt either.
Review written in 2016

Not perfect, no. That's true of the book, and a realization for many of the characters in this book about their lives. They are grappling with mortality, morality, regret, apathy, sorrow, inertia, and a sense that life is speeding by and just about out of their grasp unless they reach out and find out who they really are. I really enjoyed the book, for whatever flaws it may have in some too-convenient plot pieces or some too-hasty characterizations or some cringe-worthy descriptions of interracial relationships. In many more parts--for me--it held life, and that is no small achievement.

Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo, author; Mark Bramhall, narrator
***This is the sequel to the book “Nobody’s Fool”, but it is easily read as an entertaining standalone. Richard Russo knows how to weave a story and masterfully knit all the parts together in the end. There is just the right amount of outright humor coupled with tongue in cheek humor to move the story along, even when it begins to slog along and the pace grows slow as it relates a series of bizarre events taking place in a town called Bath. The events grow more and more convoluted and disastrous with the passing hours, from graves sliding down a hill to being struck by lightening to the escape of a rare, poisonous snake.
The story introduces an abundance of show more characters that are sometimes a bit difficult to keep track of, but each has a distinct personality that is really well developed. The star of the book is Douglas Raymer, the police chief in Bath. He is the man who is tired of being “everybody’s fool”. He has very little confidence in himself and he regards himself the way most people seem to regard him, as a bit of a village idiot, even though he is the police chief. He reacts too slowly, often overlooking important details. The reader learns that he believed he was lucky to snare his wife, Becka, an aspiring actress, but one day, returning home from work early, he discovers her body at the bottom of the stairs. Apparently, unbeknownst to him, she was planning to leave him. In her rush to pack up, she has tripped and fallen to her death. He is bereft. He cannot understand why she never told him she was unhappy or why he never knew she was. He is consumed by the need to find out who her lover was, and when he finds a garage remote, he develops a plan to do just that. However, he loses the remote while attending the funeral of Barton Flatt, the magistrate, when he passes out and topples into the empty grave while listening to the sermon of Reverend Tunic, which seems to go on and on and on. He is exhausted, hasn't eaten or slept well since Becka's death. Once more, he finds himself to be the object of ridicule. However, after he was struck by lightening, his personality seemed to divide into two people, Raymer and Dougie. Dougie is stronger and his influence changes Raymer’s life.
Charice works at the police station and she and Raymer have an interesting relationship with humorous repartees. She is the twin sister of Jerome, an emotionally fragile young man for whom she feels responsible. Because they are black, there is an interracial component of the story which is handled very matter of factly creating no negative racial impact. It is a perfectly honest and open treatment of the subject which I found exceptional.
Miller also works at the police department, but he is not quite trusted by Raymer. He has read the manual and memorized it, and so he follows all the rules, but often doesn’t know how to bend them. He is very literal.
Another character is Ruth, the owner of Hatties, the local eatery. Ruth and Zach are married, but they are not intimate. She has carried on, fairly openly, with Donald (Sully) Solomon for years. Her daughter Janey is married to Roy Purdy an absolute deadbeat of a man. He is violent, has no compunction about committing any crimes, theft, assault, and even murder. He has recently been released from prison and has taken up with a local dull witted, very heavy-set woman, Cora, who adores him and does his bidding. His ex wife Janey has a restraining order against him which he ignores. He continues to commit terrible acts of violence. Ruth doesn’t believe that her husband Zach does appropriate work to earn money since he hoards all sorts of other people’s junk to resell it. It drives her crazy as the junk keeps piling up filling up more and more of their space. Soon he has sheds to store the stuff as well.
Gus Moynihan is the mayor. He rescued his wife, Alice, from Kurt, a low-life who manipulates and blackmails people to get what he wants. He did not know what he was getting into, but he has watched Alice lose her touch with reality over the years, after a brief period of sanity, and she will soon have to be committed to an institution for care. She keeps escaping from the house and frightens the neighbors as she carries on conversations on her “cell phone”, which is actually the handset of a pink telephone. She was a friend of Becka, the chief’s wife.
Sully is probably the only friend of Rub, a very insecure man who has a vicious stammer which disappears when he repeats what Sully says. He is devoted to Sully and dependent upon him for company and work. Bootsie is married to Rub. Theirs is a fairly emotionless marriage too. Sully named his dog Rub, which the actual Rub finds insulting, especially since he often refers to both the dog and himself as dummy. Sully has a son Peter who lives with him. When Sully’s fortune changed and he came into money, he drew away from Rub somewhat, and Rub is grief stricken, often shedding many tears over the loss of their close friendship. Sully, at 70, has discovered that he is not well. His heart is weak. He doesn’t expect to live very much longer. His ex-wife is Vera who is confined to a nursing home, having descended into a state of madness. Gert operates the local watering hole, the Horse. Sully often goes there for a drink with Rub. Gert is married to a gruff woman named Birdie.
Carl Roebuck is the rich town scoundrel. He is involved in construction and part of the reason for the sliding graves, a malodorous stink in town and a wall collapsing on Roy Purdy while he was driving by the cemetery. Carl has also discovered that he is not well. He has had prostate surgery and is obsessed with his ability to perform or rather his inability to perform sexually. All of the mishaps are bankrupting him so he is completely stressed out. Most of the town people were not too unhappy to hear about Roy's mishap, believing it is payback for his brutality or for Carl's financial crisis that they believe is well deserved as well.
Then there is Boogie Woogie, another simple-minded man, who is duped into watching someone’s contraband which turns out to be illegal weapons, reptiles and money. That con man is William Smith, aka who knows?
Mr. Hines is an elderly, gentle black man who often dispenses advice and information to Raymer. From his vantage point he observes the goings on in the town.
So you see, each character is really a bit of a fool in some way. Each incident that occurs is truly extraordinary as well. One of the events would have tested the skill of a police officer, but piling on like they did, he would have to be a superhero to handle them all. Raymer believes he is unfit for his position and wants to quit. Still, he remains to take care of the town as best he can during this time.
So, in this small town of Bath, life is rather unusual with almost everyone having some sort of a significant problem to deal with, and all of these problems seem to come to a head over a period of about two days, but it seems like much longer! There is a touch of the mystical to the story which makes it even more interesting.
There are many surprises in store for the reader in what starts out as a story that plods along as small town life does, but accelerates as each strange event takes place. We readers are allowed to watch as each of the characters is forced to confront their own reality and “come of age”. Some do it more successfully than others. Mark Bramwell, the reader, interprets the personalities so that each character comes through pretty clearly for an audio with so many. show less

What a hoot! It starts off with the hapless police chief of a small town in upstate NY fainting at a funeral for a judge (who he hated) and falling face first into the grave. He has recently lost his wife, who was about to leave him for another man. He spends a good deal of the novel trying to find out who, making a fool of himself in the process. In the meanwhile, there is a cast of mostly male, mostly ridiculous and sometimes lovable secondary characters to keep you amused with their antics. In spite of the laugh-out-loud humor, the intertwined relationships in this small town are often heartwarming (except for the wife beater).