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Nobody's Fool (Sully #1)

Richard Russo

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Jan 03, 2013 AmyAmy rated it it was amazing

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They say Einstein and Michelangelo are geniuses, and they are. So is Richard Russo. Geniuses come in categories. Einstein was a science/math genius; Michelangelo, a creative genius; and Russo, a social genius. Richard Russo picks up on the social nuances and minute detail in such a unique way that it is truly awesome. His characters are REAL, and his humor hits my funny bone. I am in total awe of this writer.

Sully is the main character. He is a 60-year-old hilariously funny loser, taking in odd They say Einstein and Michelangelo are geniuses, and they are. So is Richard Russo. Geniuses come in categories. Einstein was a science/math genius; Michelangelo, a creative genius; and Russo, a social genius. Richard Russo picks up on the social nuances and minute detail in such a unique way that it is truly awesome. His characters are REAL, and his humor hits my funny bone. I am in total awe of this writer.

Sully is the main character. He is a 60-year-old hilariously funny loser, taking in odd construction jobs when he can find them, hobbling around on a bum knee and in constant pain, both physically (knee) and mentally (can't let go his hatred from his abusive father). His best friend (who he hates to admit is his best friend) is Run, a scrawny little smelly guy who works for him, a guy who lacks confidence and is socially awkward, but follows Sully around like a pup. His landlady is an 80-year-old ex English teacher (his teacher way back when) who is affectionately fond of Sully, more so than her son, who she doesn't trust. Sully frequents the neighborhood diner each morning, and bar each evening, in the town of Bath, New York, a dying town which was once prosperous over 100 years ago, and now is barely holding on. Sully thought he was doing a favor by staying out of his son's life as a boy, but now his son has a young son of his own, and Sully grows a heart for his grandson. He's in love with another man's wife, suffers a failed marriage from a woman who's literally nuts, and is seeing another married woman in an on-again/off-again relationship. Sully drinks with his lawyer, who's never won a case, and the young man who gives him construction jobs who he's constantly in verbal battle with, and Jacko, who gives him pain-killers for free because they're test samples. He has breakfast with diner-owner Cass, who wants nothing more than to leave Bath but can't because of her elderly mother who owns Hattie's Diner, Hattie, who he's tender with while she's senile, and Rub, who's always asking Sully for a dollar. ...more

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Aug 09, 2017 Juliana Philippa marked it as to-read

What We're Reading This Summer 2017 — A collection of 25 books recommended by The Atlantic’s editors and writers
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/arc... ...more

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