Showing results by author "Richard Russo" in All Categories

Dexter County, Maine, and specifically the town of Empire Falls, has seen better days, and for decades, in fact, only a succession from bad to worse. One by one, its logging and textile enterprises have gone belly-up, and the once vast holdings of the Whiting clan (presided over by the last scion’s widow) now mostly amount to decrepit real estate. The working classes, meanwhile, continue to eke out whatever meager promise isn’t already boarded up. Miles Roby gazes over this ruined kingdom from the Empire Grill, an opportunity of his youth that has become the albatross of his life.

Divorced from his own wife and carrying on halfheartedly with another man's, saddled with a bum knee and friends who make enemies redundant, Sully now has one new problem to cope with: a long-estranged son who is in imminent danger of following in his father's footsteps. With its sly and uproarious humor and a heart that embraces humanity's follies as well as its triumphs, Nobody's Fool is storytelling at its most generous.

An unforgettable tale of life, love and passion in a decaying mill town in upstate New York. Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks. Its citizens, too, have fallen on hard times. Dallas Younger, a star athlete in high school, now drifts from tavern to poker game, losing money and, inevitably, another set of false teeth.

One beautiful September day, three 66-year-old men convene on Martha's Vineyard, friends ever since meeting in college in the 1960s. They couldn't have been more different then, or even today - Lincoln's a commercial real estate broker, Teddy a tiny-press publisher and Mickey an ageing musician. But each man holds his own secrets, in addition to the monumental mystery that none of them has ever stopped puzzling over since 1971: the disappearance of their friend Jacy.

Russo's protagonist is William Henry Devereaux, Jr., the reluctant chairman of the English department of a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt. In the course of a single week, Devereaux will have his nose mangled by an angry colleague, imagine his wife is having an affair with his dean, wonder if a curvaceous adjunct is trying to seduce him with peach pits, and threaten to execute a goose on local television.

Strong female protagonists grace this collection of passionate stories dedicated to mothers, daughters, wives, and lovers. A woman splurges on an irresistible coat that becomes her; a feisty teenager who has grown up as her activist mother¿s poster-child realizes the strength of her own convictions; and a young peasant woman saved from drowning is suddenly drawn to her rescuer and hopeful about her life.

The irresistible Sully, who in the intervening years has come by some unexpected good fortune, is staring down a VA cardiologist’s estimate that he has only a year or two left, and it’s hard work trying to keep this news from the most important people in his life: Ruth, the married woman he carried on with for years; the ultra-hapless Rub Squeers, who worries that he and Sully aren’t still best friends; and Sully’s son and grandson, for whom he was mostly an absentee figure (and now a regretful one). 

An einem Spätsommertag auf Martha’s Vineyard treffen sie sich wieder: Lincoln, Teddy und Mickey. Die drei Männer planen, das Wochenende in einem Ferienhaus auf der Insel zu verbringen - um der alten Zeiten willen. Seit dem Studium zu Vietnamkriegszeiten sind sie miteinander befreundet. Sie sind sehr unterschiedliche Wege gegangen, doch alle waren sie einst in dasselbe Mädchen verliebt, Jacy Calloway. Kurz nach ihrem Abschluss verschwand Jacy spurlos. Aber keiner von ihnen hat die Freundin vergessen - oder die Frage, wen von ihnen Jacy eigentlich liebte.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Russo's skillful use of dialogue perfectly suits the audio medium. A wonderfully fun and perceptive novel in the traditions of Thornton Wilder and Anne Tyler, The Risk Pool is set in Mohawk, New York, where Ned Hall is doing his best to grow up, even though neither of his estranged parents can properly be called an adult.

A cynical Hollywood moviemaker confronts his dead wife’s lover and abruptly realizes the depth of his own passion. As his parents’ marriage disintegrates, a precocious fifth-grader distracts himself with meditations on baseball, spaghetti, and his place in the universe. And in the title story, an elderly nun enters a college creative writing class and plays havoc with its tidy notions of fact and fiction. The Whore’s Child is further proof that Russo is one of the finest writers we have.

North Bath, Upstate New York, Mitte der Achtziger: Donald Sullivan, von allen nur Sully genannt, führt ein bequemes Leben in der verschlafenen Kleinstadt. Obwohl er geschieden ist, sein kaputtes Knie ihm immer wieder Ärger macht und er seit Langem eine geheime Affäre mit einer verheirateten Frau hat, ist er mit seinem Leben zufrieden. Schon immer hat er sich gründlich vor jeder Verantwortung gedrückt - ob als Ehemann, als Vater oder als Untermieter seiner ehemaligen Highschool-Lehrerin. Jetzt holt ihn der Ernst des Lebens ein: Denn nicht nur sein Enkel, der aus einer zerstrittenen Familie flieht, braucht auf einmal seine Hilfe.

Eigentlich sollte das Memorial-Day-Wochende für alle Bewohner von North Bath eine Zeit der Ruhe und Besinnung sein. Aber in diesem Jahr ist es, als hätte jemand ungebeten die Büchse der Pandora geöffnet. Chief Raymer, der Leiter der Polizeidirektion, kollabiert auf einer Beerdigung, fällt ins offene Grab und verliert dabei das einzige Beweisstück dafür, dass seine Frau ihn betrogen hat. Die Wand eines Gebäudes, das der impotente Bauunternehmer Carl errichtet hat, stürzt ein.

Empire Falls, eine Kleinstadt in Maine: Seit über zwanzig Jahren arbeitet Miles Roby im örtlichen Diner. Hier versammelt sich die ganze Stadt, vom Fitnessstudiobesitzer bis zum Schuldirektor. Miles selbst hat das College abgebrochen, ist geschieden und lebt in einer winzigen Wohnung über dem Restaurant. Und während er sein Bestes gibt, seiner Tochter dabei zu helfen, die Highschool zu überstehen, seinen trinkfreudigen Vater zu bändigen und dem Job im Diner gerecht zu werden, bleibt nicht viel Raum für das, was er sich vom Leben erhofft hat.

In time for the one-year anniversary of the Trump inauguration and the Women's March, this provocative, unprecedented anthology features original short stories from 30 best-selling and award-winning authors - including Alice Walker, Richard Russo, Walter Mosley, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Hoffman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Cunningham, Mary Higgins Clark, and Lee Child - with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.

William Henry Devereaux Jr. er professor og modvillig bestyrer af engelskinstituttet, ved et mindre universitet i Pennsylvania. Hans modvillighed skyldes, dels hans karakter - han er den fødte anarkist - dels den kendsgerning, at hans kolleger på instituttet stort set alle er i krig med hinanden og også med ham.I løbet af en enkelt uge går Devereaux’ tilværelse amok: Han får sin næse skamferet af en vred kollega, han forestiller sig, at hans kone har en affære med dekanen, en yngre kollega forsøger at forføre ham med en fersken, og han truer på tv med at henrette en af universitetsparkens gæs dag-ligt, indtil ledelsen giver ham et acceptabelt budget. Alt dette mens han prøver at forlige sig med sin skørtejagende og fraværende far, sin datters pludselige trang til skilsmisse og det foruroligende svigt af nogle vitale kropsfunktioner.

Miles Roby har langet burgere over disken i Empire Grill i tyve år, og derfra kan han se ned ad hovedgaden i den engang så driftige industriby Empire Falls og fornemme byens puls, som nu slår meget langsomt. For Whiting-familien, der ejer fabrikkerne og det meste andet på egnen, har flyttet produktionen væk fra byen, og det har skruet livet i Empire Falls ned på vågeblus.Så det er bekymrede kunder, der letter deres hjerte over for Miles - som har sine helt egne problemer.

Carlucci's Edge brings to life a chilling scenario in the bleak urban landscape that is twenty-first-century San Francisco and marks the return of Lt. Frank Carlucci, first seen in Destroying Angel. The San Francisco Police Department is stonewalling seemingly unrelated murder investigations, and Carlucci is determined to find out why. His unauthorized investigation leads him to an insidious black market run by top political officials.

The third cyberthriller featuring Lt. Frank Carlucci from Philip K. Dick Award-winning author Richard Paul Russo. In a future, gritty San Francisco, Lieutenant Frank Carlucci is drawn into an investigation surrounding the disappearance of his daughter's friend. As Carlucci digs deeper, the corruption and decay he finds is nothing compared to a final horror that could have devastating implications: A secret known only as Cancer Cell.

This audio presentation of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction is a super-duper triple issue, comprising ten key selections (most of the contents, actually) of FSF's September issue and the forthcoming double October/November issue.

Jean Russo was a single mother in the 1950s, badly paid and living with her parents in Gloversville, New York, a dead-end town whose heyday as the hub of the leather-goods industry was just a distant memory. ‘You are getting out of Gloversville’ was her mantra throughout Richard’s high school years. And when he finally made his intrepid escape from the family home on Helwig Street - fleeing to a far-flung college in a banger nicknamed The Gray Death - Jean saw her chance of a better life elsewhere.