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A review by nawis
Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo
4.0
As has been stated in other reviews, this novel is character-driven, and our protagonist Sully steals the show: he's funny, obscene, crass, undependable, and yet somehow likably charming. Luckily for us, Russo showcases his stellar dialogue by crafting a great set of supporting characters for Sully to interact with. There is a great deal of humor in this book, but occasionally these jokes fall flat (maybe Russo does this intentionally to demonstrate that Sully doesn't always have a perfect zinger?).
The book is far from perfect though. It had a rather slow start and failed to grasp my attention until about 200 pages in, so it felt a bit overlong at 550 pages. Also, the plot-lines relied largely on ridiculous capers and Russo was often repetitive (to drive home key points, but still). These are minor complaints though—I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to somebody who knows what they're getting into with a Russo book. While he doesn't always nail the introspective rumination like many of his contemporaries, Russo is in a league of his own when it comes to entertaining dialogue.
The book is far from perfect though. It had a rather slow start and failed to grasp my attention until about 200 pages in, so it felt a bit overlong at 550 pages. Also, the plot-lines relied largely on ridiculous capers and Russo was often repetitive (to drive home key points, but still). These are minor complaints though—I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to somebody who knows what they're getting into with a Russo book. While he doesn't always nail the introspective rumination like many of his contemporaries, Russo is in a league of his own when it comes to entertaining dialogue.