The Risk Pool

I really enjoyed this book, but I may have read it too soon after having read Russo's 'Mohawk' which took place in this same wonderful small forgotten upstate New York town. And that lead me to some occasional recollective confusion mixing up the back stories, but not to any serious detriment. Beautiful writing about some fascinating and believable characters, and I felt I was right there with Ned throughout the whole book. The book perfectly captures that universal sense of having to deal with the family hand we are dealt without letting them fully determine our own destiny. The father / son relationship Sam and Ned is a memorable one. This is my third Russo book and they all have a unique quality; an aftertaste of hopeful otpimism in show more spite of the time you have spent with quirky characters in less than ideal circumstances in fairly depressing settings...somehow we feel good as we share the simplicity of their efforts to survive and thrive in spite of what comes their way. I look forward to my next Russo. show less

So once again, Richard Russo’s book expertly details the life of a dying town. His descriptions of the scoundrels and desperate deadbeats make for memorable characterizations, ones that we will continue to see in all of his future novels.” Most everybody in Mohawk lived pretty near the edge—of unemployment, of lunacy, of bankruptcy, of potentially hazardous ignorance, of despair—and hence the local custom was that you only worried about people nearest the brink. Otherwise you’d worry yourself over the edge in short order, what with so many candidates for concern around.”
The leather factory has closed, and off track bedding seems to be the main hobby. Mainly the story is about the relationship between Ned Hall and his show more father Sam. Written, as if Ned is looking back at his childhood, growing up in a pretty dysfunctional family - his mother ends up having a nervous breakdown and his father was mostly absentee. But once Ned gets to know his father in a somewhat supervised childhood living above a department store , he sees some nobility in a man who everybody seems to like. Since it novel was one of the first Russo published, it’s interesting to see the groundwork he created for most of his future work. The three novels that depict the life of Sully, Donald Sullivan, are called. Nobody’s Fool, Everybody’s Fool, and Somebody’s Fool. Don’t be a fool; you should read them all. the Pulitzer Prize winning novel is called the Empire Grill. I recommend these as standard reading for American Fiction lovers.

Lines

“Ever fish before?” I shook my head. “It’s about the best thing there is until you’re older and can do some other stuff, and it’s better than most of the other stuff too.”

1957, when I entered the fifth grade, I was cataloging an impressive list of plagiarized venial sins every Saturday afternoon in the dark confessional.

She was a gangly woman, sort of pretty and not pretty at the same time, with lively eyes that conveyed both amusement and irritation.

Right before the war, Eileen was said to have gone a little wild, and half a dozen surprised local boys claimed she was sending them into battle with at least one thing to be grateful for.

Rigid slavishness to the truth had never been one of my particular vices, and it was during this period that my mother’s and my relationship was entirely rewritten, grounded firmly in kind falsehoods. It would never change again. For the rest of our lives I would lie and she would believe me.

She always congratulated herself on the fact that she had nothing to worry about, and wouldn’t have, as long as she continued to worry all the time.

I called Tria Ward just that once from the Mohawk Grill, and then I took up pool, a magic, hypnotic sport, a Freudian playground of balls, stiff rods, a variety of holes to approach from a variety of angles, all promissory, all destined to be filled, eventually, regardless of the shooters’ skill.

“And you are studying what?” she said, with the kind of forthright, almost insulting directness, you sometimes encounter in persons who are not merely curious but, for some reason, believe they have a right to know all about you. show less

Ned Hall growing up in a small New York town is surrounded by flawed family and friends all struggling to get along - such wonderful characterisation - such perceptive comment on the human condition. I was totally mesmerized by this book and the life of Ned - humorous and sad and so true. I have to read more of Richard Russo.

Russo's second big novel shows a writer already fully in command of his art and secure in his niche as an observer of the quotidian. Predating 'Nobody's Fool' by 5 years, it details the life of Ned Hall, a boy growing up in small-town America, shuffled between a mother whose hold on reality becomes increasingly tenuous, while his brawling, beer-loving father steps in with a benign neglect that leaves Ned mostly to his own devices.

Risk Pool, Richard Russo. Ned Hall grows older as his mother grows more brittle, his town grows more rusted, and his life goes astray. Part of Philandering Father Sam Hall played by a young, brash Johnny Cash.

Risk Pool rests entirely on the shoulders of its hard-ridden, rust-belt dwelling characters, grinding along on a relatively anemic plot (Boys becoming men! Men becoming wolves!). But have no fear. Russo’s characters are strong, complicated, and resilient. Why? Because Russo is (a) the messiah, (b) the one author who didn’t dream of boobies all through Freshman Creative Writing Seminar, and (c) seriously, like the Second Coming of Christ Jesus. He has the rare knack for the cadences and rhythmic peculiarities of human dialogue, show more human interaction, and just plain humans in general. Did I mention that dialogue and zestful character interaction is my Achilles heel? WELL IT IS.

However, Risk Pool is Russo’s second novel, and it's not without fault. The middle occasionally sags in pacing. There are also a few near brushes with Deep Thoughts and Advanced Navel-Gazing, but the worst of it just grazes the plot, and the novel escapes unscathed for the most part. Risk Pool ends graceful, bittersweet, and wryly hilarious. Read it. show less

This was a very good book, although it was a little close to home. Sam Hall, the main character, reminded me a lot of my dad. Especially chapter 37--Ned finds his father at Mike's (bar), drunk as usual. He's there with Roy and the conversation that ensues is just like the conversations I've heard at my dad's bars. The regulars who hang out in dives and just keep drinking. Sam is also a gambler and somewhat of an enigma in town. Later, on his deathbed at the VA, Sam asks to go home where he has a gun to end it all. He doesn't want a funeral or burial, but Mike gives him a "send-off" to which an unbelievably large crowd attends. Having lived alone most of his life, Sam dies alone, with virtually nothing. It was a little like seeing my show more future, and I didn't like it. But still, a very good read.

Favorite character: Wussy, Sam's friend, who always calls Ned "Sam's Kid," refers to Sam as "the rockhead," and lends him a hand in a round about way as any loyal friend does. show less

A bittersweet story fold by Ned who grew up in a small town in N.Y. (Pop 806) He is raised by his mother and at age 10, Ned is kidnapped by his absent, alcoholic father. When Sam (Ned's dad) brought Ned home from a fishing trip filthy, cold, hungry and covered with poison ivy, his mother was convinced of Sam's total inability as a parent and chaos ensues. After this fiasco, Ned's mother slowing falls into a debilitating depression. Hospitalization is needed and now Sam is custodial parent! Ned is thrown into a world of bars, taking care of himself and sometimes his Dad. The book romatizes the alcoholic- something I've never come across in my readings. A very sad tale, told from a sons perspective and with the love of his father shining show more through. show less