The Risk Pool

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More About This Book

Overview

A wonderfully funn and perceptive novel in the traditions of Thornton Wilder and Anne Tyler, The Risk Pool is set in Mohawk, New York, where Ned Hall is doing his best to grow up, even though neither of his estranged parents can properly be called adult.

His father, Sam, cultivates bad habits so assiduously that he is stuck at the bottom of his auto insurance risk pool. His mother, Jenny, is slowly going crazy from resentment at a husband who refuses either to stay or to stay away. As Ned veers between allegiances to these grossly inadequate role models, Richard Russo gives us a book that overflows with outsized characters and outlandish predicaments and whose vision of family is at once irreverent and unexpectedly moving.

A "rich, anecdotal novel" (Boston Globe) about Ned Hall, a man trying to resolve the tug between his very different, estranged parents.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
``Brilliantly fulfilling the promise of his first novel, Mohawk , Russo's ``richly satisfying narrative'' is about the coming-of-age of Ned Hall, son of Sam Hall--a disreputable barfly, petty thief and gambler whose wicked ways place him at the lower end of the insurance risk pool. PW called the author's prose style ``as seductive as spring.'' (Nov.)
Library Journal
A story of not-so-successful folk in a decaying town in New York as seen through the eyes of Ned Hall, better known as ``Sam's son.'' Sam was once an average citizen who grew up, married, and went off to fight in World War II but returned a drifter. Leaving his wife and small son at home, he would haunt the bars and pool halls and hobnob with his cronies. Now and then he'd appear from nowhere to take Ned with him. When Ned's mother, Jenny, trips over the edge, Ned goes to live with Sam in a dilapidated loft above the town's one department store and shares his father's roguish life. Ned's 20-year story is filled with wonderfully drawn characters and hilarious adventures but the subtext is one of sadness and near desperation. Highly recommended. Marion Hanscom, SUNY at Binghamton Lib.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780679753834
  • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 3/15/1994
  • Edition description: Reissue
  • Pages: 496
  • Sales rank: 284,477
  • Series: Vintage Contemporaries Series
  • Product dimensions: 5.20 (w) x 8.00 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Richard Russo
Richard Russo

Richard Russo grew up in Gloversville, New York, the small, mostly working-class town that has served as the prototype for his fictional Mohawk and North Bath. His parents were separated, and he recalls his father as a man who "lived a life of studied bad habits. I became of interest to him when I got old enough to follow him into the OTB and then into the bar and then into the pool hall, when I could be taken to the places he went and not interrupt the rhythm of his life."

With his father, Russo worked construction jobs during his vacations from the University of Arizona, where he received his B.A. He later went on to get a master's degree and had almost earned his Ph.D. in American literature when it occurred to him that he would rather write his own novels than analyze other people's. He is the author of three books, Mohawk, The Risk Pool, and Nobody's Fool, which has recently been made into a feature film starring Paul Newman and Bruce Willis. Richard Russo teaches writing at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He lives there with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters.

Biography

Prizewinning author Richard Russo is regarded by many critics as the best writer about small-town America since Sherwood Anderson and Sinclair Lewis. "He doesn't over-sentimentalize [small towns]," said Maureen Corrigan, the book critic for NPR's "Fresh Air." Nor does he belittle the dreams and hardships of his working-class characters. "I come from a blue-collar family myself and I think he gets the class interactions; he just really nails class in his novels," said Corrigan.

When Russo left his own native small town in upstate New York, it was with hopes of becoming a college professor. But during his graduate studies, he began to have second thoughts about the academic life. While finishing up his doctorate, he took a creative writing class; and a new career path opened in front of him.

Russo's first novel set the tone for much of his later work. The story of an ailing industrial town and the interwoven lives of its inhabitants, Mohawk won critical praise for its witty, engaging style. In subsequent books, he has brought us a dazzling cast of characters, mostly working-class men and women who are struggling with the problems of everyday life (poor health, unemployment, mounting bills, failed marriages) in dilapidated, claustrophobic burghs that have -- like their denizens -- seen better days. In 2001, Russo received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, a brilliant, tragicomic set-piece that explores past and present relationships in a once-thriving Maine town whose textile mill and shirt factory have gone bust.

Russo's vision of America would be bleak, except for the wit and optimism he infuses into his stories. Even when his characters are less than lovable, they are funny, rueful, and unfailingly human. "There's a version of myself that I still see in a kind of alternative universe and it's some small town in upstate New York or someplace like that," Russo said in an interview. That ability to envision himself in the bars and diners of small-town America has served him well. "After the last sentence is read, the reader continues to see Russo's tender, messed-up people coming out of doorways, lurching through life," said the fiction writer Annie Proulx. "And keeps on seeing them because they are as real as we are."

Good To Know

In 1994, Russo's book Nobody's Fool was made into a movie starring Paul Newman and Bruce Willis. Newman also starred in the 1998 movie Twilight, for which Russo wrote the screenplay. Russo now divides his time between writing fiction and writing for the movies.

When he wrote his first books, Russo was employed full-time as a college teacher, and would stop at the local diner between classes to work on his novels. After the success of Nobody's Fool (the book and the movie), he was able to quit teaching -- but he still likes to write in spots such as the Camden Deli. It's "a less lonely way to write," he told USA Today. "I'm less self-conscious when it's not so quiet."

    1. Hometown:
      Gloversville, New York
    1. Date of Birth:
      July 15, 1949
    2. Place of Birth:
      Johnstown, New York
    1. Education:
      B.A., University of Arizona, 1967; Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1979; M.F.A., University of Arizona, 1980

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 47 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(37)

4 Star

(5)

3 Star

(3)

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(1)

1 Star

(1)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 47 Customer Reviews

  • Posted July 25, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    9780679753827

    Any small town USA

    The characters and the storyline brought back fond, and not so fond, memories of the small Louisiana town I grew up in. I recommend reading Mohawk first, then this follow up. The writing is superb! Another winner for Russo.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 6, 2012

    Autum

    Hey.....

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 30, 2012

    So so

    Not one of his best...dragged on in spots.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 22, 2012

    Russo's Best!

    I read The Risk Pool shortly after original publication, and have re-read it three or four times since. It's one of the most enjoyable reads I've ever experienced. I have read all of his books, and The Risk Pool is Russo's best work. He creates word magic with phrases such as, "He put out what was left of his cigarette with what was left of his thumb". You can't go wrong with this one!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 22, 2012

    Skypool

    For now you can help out in here shows moonkit what borage looks like can you sort these into piles

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted May 17, 2012

    AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I have read everything Richard Russo has written and this is absolutely the BEST. So good in fact, this is the second time I've read it. Probably not the last. Do yourself a favor, get this book, and read it.....at least twice!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 23, 2012

    A load yowl all cats old enought to swim

    EtingGaher at poolstone for a cla me

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 22, 2012

    Bathroom

    No descruib what do just gou

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 18, 2012

    Grace

    *smiles at tyler* well hello there.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 24, 2012

    Krys

    Im on lo

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 18, 2012

    Breezi

    Srey i though we were friends

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 4, 2012

    PARTY

    Strip and nook s e x party at live result 1

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 13, 2012

    Heat

    Thnxs

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 25, 2012

    Nxon

    Dude i love the way u talk

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 9, 2012

    J

    By

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 22, 2012

    Alex

    Yeah

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 4, 2012

    Anonmynous

    Sooo....what u doing?

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 15, 2012

    Ally to anyone

    Wanna vhat give me dares idc im just bored

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 31, 2012

    Great story!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted April 18, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    9780375726408 9780553268881

    Richard Russo and me. Why can't we be friends?

    Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors. But I want more from him. I I want to know how he does it. Once again he's proven you don't need more than the everyday events of life to create drama and captivate a reader and leave her longing for more. The Risk Pool is filled with common people I know and life events I've witnessed and is set in a small unimportant town, just like the ones of my youth. But Russo is a master story teller and gathers together hauntingly beautiful words to form situations that linger on my heart and challenge me to reasses my own thoughts about these familiar people and places in my life. The Risk Pool comes to an end only on the last page of this great book. I'm living out the rest of the story.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
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