Everybody's Fool (Russo novel)

Everybody's Fool is a 2016 novel by Richard Russo. It is a sequel to Russo's 1993 novel Nobody's Fool.

Everybody's Fool
AuthorRichard Russo
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherAlfred A. Knopf
Publication date
May 3, 2016
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages477
ISBN9780307270641
OCLC922630506

Synopsis

The narrative follows the lives of a number of characters in fictional North Bath, NY, over the course of a Memorial Day weekend. Police chief Douglas Raymer, the "fool" of the title, tries to discover the identity of his late wife's lover. His only clue is a garage door opener, which he uses on various houses to see whose door will open. Donald "Sully" Sullivan has recently come into money but must now come to grips with his declining health. Both men get involved in a drama regarding the return of Roy Purdy, a wife abuser whose existence threatens Sully's ex-lover, Ruth. Additionally, Raymer works cases involving a crumbling building, a dissolving cemetery, and the illegal smuggling of dangerous snakes. All the while, Raymer navigates his possibly romantic feelings for Charice, one of his officers.[1]

Critical reception

In a review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin called the novel "delightful".[2] Reviewing it for The Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Maloney said it was "a madcap romp, weaving mystery, suspense and comedy in a race to the final pages.".[3] In the Star Tribune, Kevin Canfield called it "a decidedly bittersweet affair, a sequel that proves both entertaining and elegiac".[4]

Reviewing it for the Portland Press Herald, Michael Berry concluded that the novel "displays his trademark style, that easy, sardonic and yet not unkind authorial voice that reveals the characters’ inner lives, full of well-worn habit and surprising contradiction, with honesty, humor and compassion.".[5] Meanwhile, Ron Charles of The Washington Post suggested the biracial relationship between Raymer and his assistant Charice was "forced".[6]

Awards
gollark: I'm beginning to wonder if the US *deliberately* messed up its coronavirus response.
gollark: Let's blot out the sun over places we don't like.
gollark: Conspiracy theory: there are millions of conspiracies with various goals but they all mostly cancel out.
gollark: Wait, what if the moon is controlling the EU institutions which control aquatic life?
gollark: The European *Commission* controls sharks, though.

References
  1. "Novelist Richard Russo: 'I Find Myself Now ... Having Lived The American Dream'". NPR. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  2. Maslin, Janet (May 4, 2016). "Review: Richard Russo Returns Upstate in 'Everybody's Fool'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  3. Maloney, Jennifer (April 27, 2016). "Richard Russo's Latest Novel: 'Everybody's Fool'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  4. Canfield, Kevin (May 3, 2016). "Review: 'Everybody's Fool' is Richard Russo at his best". Star Tribune. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  5. Berry, Michael (May 1, 2016). "Book review: Richard Russo proves you can go home again". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  6. Charles, Ron (May 3, 2016). "'Everybody's Fool' by Richard Russo: A wry, bittersweet sequel to 'Nobody's Fool'". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  7. Pierre Georges (November 13, 2017). "Le Grand prix de littérature américaine revient à Richard Russo". Libres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved November 14, 2017.
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