|
|
|---|
What does Richard Russo have to write to get some attention around here? When people talk about the big names in literature his name almost never comes up. I went through an entire MFA program and never even heard of the man. I got a hearty portion of Nabokov, Tim O'Brien and Denis Johnson but no Russo. And we're not talking about some two-bit hack, we're talking the winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize. He won for Empire Falls which is a gorgeous, funny and powerful book that I highly recommend. He also wrote Nobody's Fool, Straight Man and The Risk Pool. His writing has been called "a revelation of the human heart," (The Washington Post Book World)"richly evocative and beautifully wrought, delivered with deceptive ease" (The New York Times) and Salon.com said "thanks to Russo's deft satiric touch -- much of the book is laugh-out-loud funny." Plus he just looks like a nice guy. Look at it him. Well maybe that is why he isn't well-known. He should start drinking heavily, abusing women and starting fist fights. That might kick start things.
