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Jul 07, 2007

Leighann rated it:

I know, I know. You've probably read Empire Falls already. But why not read this Russo classic from 1994? Russo perfectly captures the desolation of small towns that have always longed to be something more than they are. Towns that long for old days. You know, those times when manufacturing jobs were plentiful. When you worked at your great-grandfather's business on Main Street as a kid and then took it over when you became an adult. Hey, I don't remember these times, but Russo paints what More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2009

Joy H. rated it:

I enjoyed reading _Nobody's Fool_. As I was reading it, I couldn't help but picture Jack Nicholson playing the part of Sully. In fact, to me, the rascally Sully *was* Jack Nicholson. This idea popped into my mind, spontaneously and unbidden. In fact, I expected everyone who read the book to have the same idea. A short survey proved me wrong. That puzzled me because I was convinced that the choice of Nicholson would be obvious to everyone. So I was a bit disappointed when Paul Newman was chosen t More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2008

Bonnie rated it:

Full of heart and humour.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 29, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

Richard Russo is a god! Okay, well, maybe only a demigod, but he's a literary deity for sure. He's the only author I know of who can write a story where nothing much of anything happens and yet it's so enjoyable to read. He's created his own genre---"dying small towns in northeastern U.S." He creates the most vivid, real characters of any author I've read. He also has a sneaky, quirky sense of humor that I love.

Nobody's Fool centers on Sully, a sixty-year-old lovable ne'e More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2008

Jason rated it:

this book, along with russo's 'empire falls, is an unarguable classic of american literature...keepers of the canon take note...

it always amazes me when a writer can contain his entire thematic program for a novel in a single image...
chabon did it in 'wonder boys' with a tuba and russo does it here with a cherrystone clam...
this whole novel revolves around the image of a clam...
i freaking love that...
i guess that's my great love for symbolism at work...
More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 13, 2007

Anna rated it:

I don't know exactly why I love Richard Russo so much (not true: I like him because his characters are granted senses of humor in almost direct proportion to their integrity), but while reading this I had that gluttonous "I love this book and can't stop reading it but wish I could keep reading it forever and that there were tons more RR novels that I could read when I'm through" feeling.

Anyway, we should all live in a world where the definition of a villain is someone with More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

May 17, 2007

Laura rated it:

A few chapters into this book, I realized with joy that I had found a new author whose works I would enjoy tremendously. "Please let this not be his only book," I thought, and I was not disappointed.

Once again, I find that it is the characters, more than plot or writing style, that make this one of my favorite books. (The plot and style are great too, though.) Unusual, lovable, flawed, and most of all hilariously WITTY!

Maybe because it was my first Russo, thi More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2011

Jane rated it:

4 ½ stars. About characters in a small town. Sully is engaging and unforgettable. The ending had contentment but made me cry.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The main story is getting to know a group of characters who have lived their whole lives in a small dying town in northeastern U.S. There are not a lot of changes or major things happening. Instead we see characters talking to their neighbors, going to the diner, going to the bar, working on jobs for each other, and other interacti More...

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Jun 02, 2011

Paul rated it:

Richard Russo's "Nobody's Fool" focuses on Donald "Sully" Sullivan, a man who has been making his own bull-headed way through life in fictional North Bath, NY for six decades. As the novel opens, Sully is entering a string of bad luck and worse decisions he terms one of his "stupid streaks," and he's working hard to ride it out.

It's not easy, however, as he's got a badly injured knee but can't collect disability, his landlady's son is scheming to get hi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 19, 2011

Barbara rated it:

Yet another good read by this author. His books all seem to follow a similar pattern, not only in setting, but in character personality. He addresses the topics of dysfunction and emotional distance with mild humor; often, his works feature a lone, though not necessarily lonely, middle-aged man struggling with the choices he's made and trying to find his place in his world. This usually involves reconnection with family members in one form or another, a father or son, and the protagonist ofte More...

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Sep 17, 2010

Chantal rated it:

Richard Russo is often praised for his ability to capture the typical blue-collar town on paper, “to chronicle with insight and compassion the day-to-day life of small town America.” (Houston Chronicle) He does this in Nobody’s Fool by masterfully manipulating points of view to depict/expose his characters from the inside out. Donald Sullivan (Sully), Russo’s main character -- a sixty-year old man with a failing knee, commitment issues, pensions for both drinking and fight More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 04, 2010

Glee rated it:

I probably had a soft spot for this book even before reading it, because the film of the same name (starring Paul Newman as Sully) was filmed in my little hometown Beacon in upstate New York. Wonderful movie, wonderful book.

Russo can write. His prose is full of biting wit and clear-eyed development of tragically flawed yet sympathetic characters, such as the aforementioned Sully. And it rings true to my memory of the people I grew up with in that town. The retired 80 year old sch More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2009

Patdmac7 rated it:

Nobody’s Fool – Richard Russo

- (it) hadn’t been so much foolish as “visionary”, which, as everyone knew, was what you called a foolish idea that worked anyway. 8

- Somehow old people, once the revered repositories of the culture’s history and values, had become dusty museums of arcane and worthless information. 16

- We wear the chains we forge in life… 25

- ‘How will you know when you’ve died?’ – ‘I guess everything will stop being so goddamn mu More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2009

Eric rated it:

My second Russo book and it was even better than the Straight Man. I loved this book and really didn't want it to end. I am still in withdrawal, missing following the life of the main character, Sully, a 60 year old man trying to make ends meet in a very small town in northern New England.

This book takes place between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, but like Straight Man manages to cover an entire life through the device of reflecting back on one's life. The characters in this bo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 23, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

Here we go again -- another mash note about Richard Russo! I saw the movie version of Nobody's Fool years ago. In fact, I believe it's probably the first Russo story I'd ever "heard." Paul Newman did a great job as Sully, the main character, and I highly recommend the film. Because I'd seen the film, I put off reading the book, even though I'm a huge Russo fan. But once I'd finished everything else he'd written (except for a short story collection because I generally don't read short s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 11, 2011

esterb rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 20, 2011

Richard rated it:

I bought the Kindle version of Nobody's Fool after being impressed by a handful of reviews on Amazon.co.uk.. I have to confess that I only reached about page 80 of 500-600. I found the first page or two very enticing, with it's dryly humourous description of the quiet, attractive town and the way day-trippers from New York would slowly drive up it's elm-lined residential street after turning off the highway, looking for gas. However, this story of small town America is to me, a young Briton with More...

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Oct 31, 2010

Kirby rated it:

Even though Donald "Sully" Sullivan is a complete screw-up, Richard Russo made me fall completely in love with him! This book tells the story of a down-on-its-heels town and its citizens who are opinionated, brash, and, according to the president of the development company considering a big project in the town, "funny looking."

It's not that you haven't met characters like these before -- Miss Beryl bears a resemblance to Olive Kittredge, for example -- but they do More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2010

Ryan rated it:

I started off a bit slow with this book, feeling that his initial setup and exposition of characters, setting, and plot seemed too reminiscent of the beginning of Empire Falls (I know he wrote this first; I read the other first – still, he begins each with an older man who faces decisions from his past that have led him here, a small town with a long-shot hope of redemption from without, the longed-for older female, the local bar/restaurant where the gossip happens…). But I sure do love Russo’s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 12, 2011

Trixie rated it:

I know this book deserves four stars at least, but I can't say that I *REALLY* liked it, not because the book isn't good but because I've been in the mood to read something else I can't put my finger on (but it has to do with wanting to read more women's voices/fewer men's). I've had too many books started to justify start another and Nobody's Fool is fairly pleasant reading, so I stuck with it, partly because I liked reading about Bath while I was taking baths and it's about time I actually fin More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Paul rated it:

Parts of the film, Nobody's Fool, were filmed in my old home town, Fishkill, N.Y., and I ended up seeing the film before I read the book. The film was actually true to the book, given the time constraints of film. When I did read the book, I loved it. The only thing that I carried over from the film was that I kept picturing Paul Newman as Sully. He made that character his own. Another reviewer here said that she imagined Jack Nicholson as Sully. I can imagine that too, but Paul Newman did just More...

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Sep 28, 2009

Donna rated it:

Excellent book. Interestingly enough, most of the characters are very foolish in this book. As I was reading, I kept thinking - What fools. Similar to Empire Falls, the first hundred pages or so seem to be pointless. You keep thinking to yourself, where are we going with this? Unfortunately, by the end of the book, we have gone nowhere, but it is a good read. Even though the characters are aggravating, I kept reading because it was interesting and funny. I'm stil trying to figure why why Sully w More...

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Aug 23, 2009

Gail rated it:

Here's a book recommended to me because it reminded someone of my own book, in progress. Russo's book is a great read, a character-driven story of 60-year-old handyman/carpenter Sully, a stubborn guy who has been wanting to do things his own way his entire life. Russo takes us to a small town in upstate New York on the verge of change and fills this book with a host of engaging characters. Sully's "stupid streaks" may go on a bit too far (this is a 550 page novel) but these characters More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2009

Toni rated it:

I love Richard Russo's books. I just let the book's world take over. The characters are wonderful-- lovable and frustrating, like old friends by the time you finish the book. That said, he needs an editor, an honest, trusted helper who is willing to cut through the crap and tell him some of this needs to be left out. The first three quarters of Nobody's Fool had me mentally railing at myself for not reading the book before this. The last hundred pages or so, I found myself drumming my finge More...

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Nov 16, 2011

Michael rated it:

I've only read this book once, but at least a couple of things come to mind whenever I think about it- Russo inevitably has a physical confrontation in all of his novels, I think in this one, the aging father-in-law whom we all love and forgive, knocks out his son-in-law, or some random tight wad prick for being such a tight wad prick. I liked it the first time I read it, because it's a little like the old goat guarding the drawbridge for the ewes while the ram brags about how big his horns are More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Ralph rated it:

Richard Russo, master craftsman, has once again looked into small town America and has shown us ourselves. Contrary to reviews that want to pigeonhole his writing based on its locale, Russo reminds us that the biggest of life's questions can be filtered just as well through the lens of a seemingly decision-challenged construction worker as through the lives of those in higher station.
As usual, the author delivers his wisdom through hilarious everyday actions, in this case through the shar More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

trishtrash rated it:

Donald Sullivan, or Sully, is going back to construction work on a busted knee, endangering his slim chances of full disability, against the advice of friends and his longsuffering lawyer. Admitting to himself his penchant for stubborn ‘stupid streaks’, in which even his best intentions lead to catastrophic consequences, he endeavours to keep one limping step ahead of his own downfall. His estranged son joins him in working on a local house, his best friend sulks jealously at the inclusion of More...

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Apr 13, 2011

Ellen rated it:

The story line has been described elsewhere, I won't duplicate. Richard Russo takes time and effort to paint detailed portraits of the main characters (Sully, Miss Beryl, Rub). Even the secondary characters (Wirf, Ruth, Clive Jr.) are fleshed out so that they are memorable and more importantly, human. The setting, a small town in New York is meticulously described, evoking a town that preferred the 1940's.

This densely written book is engrossing. The tone was both hopeful and bit More...

1 comment like

Dec 13, 2010

Simone rated it:

I really liked this book. I suppose I can understand why some people don't like Russo's books, this is thematically similar in a lot of ways to "Empire Falls." They are fundamentally flawed and sad characters, struggling to make it work. Sully should do many things but he doesn't. And spoiler alert, I like that Russo doesn't have the characters, especially Sully, figure everything out and make huge changes. Life is all small moments of grace. The novel is funny, and sad, and beautiful. More...

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Nov 10, 2010

Molly rated it:

The novel Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo was a long yet interesting book. The story plot was fantastic but to me as a whole the novel was entirely too long. The overall message presented in the book was very intriguing and I could definatly realate to the message throughout the entire story. The writing and language used in the novel wasnt very hard and it was a fairly easy read beside the 500 pages. I really love Russo's writing and I have plans to continue reading his other novels.

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