Books like Straight Man by Richard Russo
William Henry Devereaux Jr., a San Francisco‑born former left‑fielder whose hamstring injury forces him into first‑base duties, unexpectedly becomes chairman of the English department at West Central Pennsylvania University. Over the course of one convoluted week, Devereaux navigates a series of absurd challenges: he threatens to execute a goose, has his nose sliced by a feminist poet, discovers his secretary writes better fiction than he does, suspects his wife of an affair with the dean, and finally confronts his philandering elderly father—once hailed as the king of American Literary Theory—at an abandoned amusement park. The novel satirically explores academia, midlife crisis, and the absurdities of modern intellectual life.
First publish date: 1997
Genre: Humorous Fiction/Comedy Fiction
Authors: Richard Russo
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