Nobody's fool

I've just finished my third Richard Russo book, which (surprise) I thoroughly enjoyed.

Now I'm supposed to tell you why I liked it so much, but I find that it's a hard thing to describe, since it's not at all a happy book. It does contain lots of humorous moments, which is one of Russo's stunning talents.

It takes place in Bath, New York, a depressed little town that once did a booming tourist trade as a resort area, but has since fallen into collective neglect and disrepair. Most of its inhabitants are poor and uneducated and have no hope of anything better. The main characters are Don "Sully" Sullivan, a 60-year-old man who has led a sad, unlucky existence, and his landlady, Miss Beryl (Mrs. Peoples), who was once his eighth-grade teacher--so, she's an octogenarian.

The main event in Russo's books is the way he draws his characters--actually, I'm sometimes reminded of Ann Tyler. Interesting character development is the best thing about her books, too. Miss Beryl is very intelligent and introspective, with a deliciously dry wit. Her outlook on life, and the situations of people around her are wonderful and fun to read.

One of the things Miss Beryl fears is being like Old Hattie, a 91 year old with extreme dementia, who must periodically be chased down the street and taken back home. Sully is good at this, dryly remarking that Hattie's wasting away enough that they'll soon need a net to catch her. Of course, this is mostly a very sad situation, especially for Hattie's daughter, who feels that she needs to keep managing Hattie's Cafe, her mother's business.

I must say, though, that one of the funny memories I will take with me about Bath is when Hattie's daughter Cass realizes that they need a new cash register, but when the new model arrives, it's too quiet for the nearly-deaf and blind Hattie to hear. So, poor old Hattie is sitting in her favorite booth all day, under the impression that Cass is giving away free food. This infuriates her, and she starts shouting, more and more vehemently, Mak'em pay! Mak'em pay!!!! She's pounding the table as she yelling this, and even hurls salt and pepper shakers at the shadows she sees passing by her.

I definitely found myself getting wrapped up in several characters' lives. It's a story about human nature, how things either work out or don't work out, and how life goes on, whatever happens. It's a slice of life that starts the week before Thanksgiving, and ends the week after New Years. It's the story of how everyone tries not to be anyone's fool.