Thank you Knopf and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy of the Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Russo’s finale of his North Bath trilogy. In his third trip to North Bath in 30 years, Russo has gifted his moribund fictitious town with some new crises — the proposed annexation to Schuyler Springs, a town with money to burn thanks to an economy fueled by gambling, horse racing and prostitution, and a suicide in the ballroom of the dilapidated Sans Souci where an unidentified man hung himself from the balcony railing.

Peter “Sully” Sullivan has been dead for a decade, but his son, Peter, arrived in North Bath in the late 1980’s with his marriage in tatters and the loss of his university teaching job. Peter had intended to be in Bath only until his favored son, Will, graduated from high school, but Peter inherited his mother’s house and then his father’s. Peter plans to fix up Sully’s old house, sell it for a tidy profit and leave North Bath for good. But that plan is disrupted by the unexpected appearance of Peter’s son, Thomas, a boy he abandoned years ago after his bitter divorce. Seeing this defiant, neglected young man, forces Peter to confront all the accusations he’d laid at the feet of his own irresponsible father.

In addition to contending with his estranged son, Peter had been charged by Sully for “checking up on” various denizens of the blue-collar town. Initially, Peter decides that Rub Squeers, who had been at Sully’s side for three decades, and all the other people Sully “wanted him to check up on” would need to figure life out for themselves. But, Peter reluctantly tends to Ruth, the waitress with whom Sully had a long affair; Ruth’s daughter, Janey, whose former violent husband had beaten Ruth into a coma, and whose new man is a policeman with a history of using excessive force against racial minorities; Janey’s daughter, Tina, an odd kid with a wandering eye that two surgeries could not remedy who remains infatuated with Will and has become a successful businesswoman; and Birdie, the principal owner of Bath’s venerable roadhouse that has been circling the drain for decades. Throw in the mix Douglas Raymer, North Bath’s retiring Police Chief, who is dogged by Dougie, the sarcastic voice in his head (a residual effect of being struck by lightning); his on again, off again girlfriend, Charice Bond, the new Police Chief of Schuyler; and her twin brother, Jerome, a depressed, withdrawn man with a wide chasm of need who educates Douglas on the subject of institutional racism.

This is a book for readers who appreciate meticulous character studies. Russo is adept at finding the humor in the slow simmering tragedy that etches his working class characters’ lives while affording them an opportunity for redemption. The book’s power comes less from following any particular character’s journey and more from rendering the portrait of an entire community, in all of its optimism and all of its grit. The book’s tone is largely a muted comedy, but Russo is a genius at exploring, as Ron Charles phrased it in his positive review in the Washington Post, “the way kids carry the flaws of their parents and then, despite their resentment, end up reenacting those same flaws on their own children. It’s a pattern that expresses itself through soul and body.”

Somebody's Fool is a book about the past. The people of the newly-dissolved town of North Bath are still paying for their old mistakes and still stuck in their old ways, and Sully - even though he is dead - looms large in many of their thoughts. Despite the timeless (or dated?) setting, much of the story's subject matter - racial justice, police brutality, gentrification and globalization - is quite topical, and Russo's take on these issues is serious and not particularly optimistic.

But Somebody's Fool is a very enjoyable read. Russo is a master of characterization, and the book is full of smart observations, interesting intersections, and gallows humor. It's long, with a multithreaded and occasionally confusing plot, but propulsive.

... Right up until the abrupt ending, which left many of the plot threads unresolved. The story's biggest mysteries dissipated into nothing, and my nervous anticipation of their reveal - after four hundred pages of hints and dark asides - felt foolish indeed.

Thank you to Netgalley for this free preview for an honest review. I enjoyed this book. Richard Russo is an accomplished writer and I have enjoyed all his books. I really appreciated the continuation of this story too. It wrapped things up nicely.

One of my favorite authors returns to one of my favorite places in this third book about the residents of North Bath, New York. This book can be read as a standalone, but why miss out on the pleasure of reading Nobody's Fool and its sequel, Everybody's Fool before reading this "fool" book? All three are wonderful reads.

It has been ten years since Sully died and North Bath, which has been circling the drain towards extension, has finally been annexed by its more vibrant neighbor, Schuyler Springs. Some municipal jobs have been absorbed in the process, but many small businesses are facing bleak futures as are some of the residents. One such is Peter Sullivan, Sully's son. He is mulling a future outside of North Bath but is saddled with continuing renovations to his father's old house and keeping tabs on various residents at his father's request. When his estranged son Thomas shows up, his priorities suddenly change.

Focus shifts among the residents and their trials: Charice Bond has been appointed the police chief when Doug Raymer decides against pursuing his law enforcement career. On top of her new responsibilities, her emotionally crippled brother Jerome shows up at the same time a body is found. Meanwhile, Janey is trying to keep her diner going and at the same time, try and repair her relationships with her mother and daughter. Quite the juggling act.

This witty and engrossing story about the residents of North Bath is as compelling as it is insightful. The characters are just as finely drawn as they were in the previous two books. Everyone is a little older, but are they any wiser? That's for the reader to decide. This is an entirely satisfying read, but it left me wanting more. Please, Mr. Russo, don't let this be the last we see of these characters!

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf for an advance copy of this book. The publication date is July 25, 2023.

A wonderfully written book with a compelling storyline and well developed characters. I love Richard Russo’s writing and this book reminded me why.

I'm so grateful I received this ARC because it introduced me to a whole new world, Richard Russo. I read Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls and fell completely in love. Somebody's Fool lived up in every way. Whether you have lived in small town or whether you haven't, you will be completely tranported to the place Russo builds in his mind and will want to stay for a long time.

Richard Russo is a wonderful American wordsmith but unfortunately I found this novel extremely boring. I just couldn't keep reading it and enjoying it without giving it all the enthusiasm it probably deserved if I were still yearning for the 90s...Is the maestro running out of steam or am I simply fed up with all the blandness that American fiction is unfortunately dishing out nowadays? This mild and easily forgetten fictional "cul de sac" will not make any wave upon its publication.
It's 2023 and it's time for Sully to stay dead and buried...Sorry but it was a big bore....

Many thanks anyway to Knopf and Netgalley for this ARC

Dear Sully,
You’re my favorite Russo character and knowing you from the first two books of this series, you probably won’t give a damn, but maybe you will when I tell you why . I’ve read pretty much all of Russo’s fiction (as well as his memoir), so since I had a lot of characters to choose from, I think it’s quite an honor. At first I missed you in this one, so I’m glad that some of those left in North Bath remember you - most times fondly, even though you were not perfect . The truth is though, that while flawed, you are perfectly irresistible because even though you come across as a miserable s.o.b. , you’re really a good man . Your loss is felt. I discovered that this novel really is in so many ways about your legacy and you really were here throughout.

None of these characters are perfect either, but Russo has a way of endearing them all to me, well maybe not all . We get to know so much about them, both head and heart as we did about you and like in any good novel, they seem so real. That’s just one of the strengths of his writing. He has an incredible way of connecting us with his characters, making us care about what happens to them. I can’t imagine what you’d be thinking now that you’re gone and North Bath is being taken over by Schuyler Springs, but I think you’d be really pissed off. I’ve been on the edge of my seat wondering how the town’s people will be impacted. I’m sure you would be on the edge of your bar stool at the Horse, too, because you cared about them. Even after you’re gone, you’re still looking out for them having asked them to check in on each other. You’d be proud of your son Peter as he does good by you and watches out for those you asked him to. You’d be proud of your old sad sack friend Rub who probably misses you the most because with a little luck and his remembering the gems of wisdom you imparted to him, he’s come a long way.

There’s a lot happening in North Bath these days. There are complicated relationship issues galore between father and sons , mothers and daughters and lovers . You know all about complicated relationships with your son, with your ex-wife, with the married woman you had an affair with for years . There are some really ugly things here as in life like blatant racism as well as the inconspicuous kind, and oh they find a dead body. It’s also a true to reflection of what we see in the news - there are good cops and bad cops, one really bad cop in particular who would have had your wrath as he did mine.

This is crazy, I know, writing a letter to a fictional character and a dead one at that. I blame Richard Russo. There’s something extraordinary about that man’s writing that took me right back to North Bath for a third visit making me feel as if I never left . He is a master at creating these small towns, a wonderful story teller of their inhabitants. He has such a keen sense of awareness of who we are as human beings - flawed and vulnerable and many times resilient. It’s like you said when things aren’t working, “Try something. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.” It’s no wonder that I connect as if I really knew you.

Fondly,
Angela

I read this with Diane as one of our monthly reads. Another good one ! We’re on a roll.

I received a copy of this from Knopf through NetGalley.

As with all the Richard Russo books that I've read so far, I enjoyed reading the book and find myself becoming very invested in the characters. Richard Russo really brings them to life. This is one of the four or five authors whose books never disappoint me!

Ever since, almost thirty years ago now, the man in a very small independent bookstore recommended I buy Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo I have held the characters of North Bath in great affection. Perhaps these characters created from one man’s imagination are so appealing because they mirror the qualities of us who are real life human beings. They are a little bit quirky, a little bit hapless, and a little bit clueless but also are at times heroic, wise, and loving. In this third book in the series Richard Russo again takes his time winding through a relatively few days while skillfully filling the reader in on previous details and backstories and never losing the reader’s desire to know “What happens next?”.

A new Richard Russo book is always a treat, and even more so when it is the culmination of his "Fool" trilogy. Sully is, sadly, gone (although he does make a few brief appearances that fans will appreciate), but his son, Peter, as well as North Bath, New York stalwarts Raymer, Rub, Birdie, Charice, Jerome, Ruth and Carl are back and navigating the changes brought about by recent annexation of North Bath by rival town Schuyler Springs. Throw in a dead body that's discovered in the now-derelict Sans Souci hotel, and the reappearance of Peter's own long-estranged son, Thomas, and you have the makings of another Russo classic. You don't need to have read the previous installments ("Nobody's Fool" and "Everybody's Fool") to enjoy "Somebody's Fool"--Russo does a nice job of recapitulating the major events from the previous books--but why wouldn't you? to the series. I'm hoping "Somebody's Fool" is not the last we've seen of these characters, who by now feel like old friends, but if it is, Russo has given them a rousing send off.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Alfred A. Knopf for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review. I loved every minute of it.

In this third novel of a trilogy, Russo continues the story of North Bath in upstate New York, and the legacy of the late Sully, for his friends and lovers, and especially his son Peter. Peter is central to the story as he wrestles with what to do with the rest of his life, his relationships with his sons, and how to honor his commitment to Sully to care for certain people in the community. Former police chief Raymer is also a focus, as he worries about his relationship with Charice while trying to determine whose body is found hanging in an abandoned hotel. Other characters such as Rub, Jerome, Ruth, and Jane play important roles, impacting each other in both unexpected and inevitable ways. Russo weaves the story together skillfully, with some surprises at the end, and we can have the feeling that all of these characters have landed just where they belong.

Mr. Russo, where have you been all my life? Oh how you sneakily roped me in! I say ”sneakily” because I had a little trouble at first and didn’t think there would be any roping in of any kind. Man, you have a lot of characters! I had trouble keeping track of them. Thank god for the search feature on my dear old Kindle.

I know, I know, I wouldn’t have had this problem if I had read the first two books in the series, Nobody’s Fool and Everybody’s Fool. But I didn’t, okay? I had assumed this book would be fine as a stand-alone, and it really was, once I got the hang of who was who. But at first I was one confused Caroline, desperately trying to remember names and how they were connected. I don’t mean to criticize, but I think you could have introduced the characters better. It seemed like you weren’t imagining a new reader, only people who already knew all the characters. They could dig right in and know the crowd. I was an outsider.

So what old determined Deb did (she changed her name from Caroline, apparently) was grab her pen and write down all the relationships. Anyway, that worked miracles. Once I could place all the characters, I had the time and mental space to see how very cool and full your book is.

Why didn’t I read the other books, I know you want to ask. Blame blue-eyed Pauly baby (aka Paul Newman) who stole the show in the 1994 movie adaptation, "Nobody’s Fool." How could the book top the movie? All I’d see when reading would be Pauly, so my imagination would be shut down. Plus I would know beforehand what happens in the plot, and I hate that.

The series is about Sully, a curmudgeonly guy who is often a hero and often a jerk, and about all his family, friends, and foes living in a small, dying, working-class town in New York. This book continues the drama. There are three main story lines, all equally riveting, and they blend in smoothly.

Oh, Mr. Russo, how your characters jump off the page, vivid as hell! They all are so unique, and I love it when a writer can pull that off. The people are realistic in actions, emotions, and thoughts. They’re flawed, vulnerable, remorseful, lonely, passionate. A few are lost, unhappy souls who are wandering about, doing the best they can with what they’ve got. There are a couple of sad sacks, and one really bad guy. On the upbeat side, some characters have a certain spark. I felt like I got to know all of the people. Although a lot of the story is bleak, I fell in love with the book and the characters.

Thanks, Mr. Russo, for your insight into the human psyche. I loved that psychology was all over the place as I heard what the characters were thinking, how they analyzed their behavior and others’. And the dialogue is so rich; you honor the people and don’t make them sound dumb. You show us their humanity. You’ve created a brilliant drama without going over the top.

This book has little bits of wisdom throughout. And there are some funny parts. One character makes an editorial mistake when circulating his campaign slogan, which was supposed to be, “We’re not happy until you’re happy.” Instead, his sign says, “We’re not happy until you’re not happy.” That extra “not” makes the sentiment a riot!

The book is long (over 450 pages); I think it could have been edited a bit. And I tended to read it slowly—I wonder if for some reason the style didn’t exactly match my head, and it slowed me down. A nit: The main character has an alter ego named Dougie, who would advise him, and I didn’t buy it or like it. Luckily, Dougie wasn’t a main part of the story.

I couldn’t wait to pick the book up, and I’d get that exhilarating feeling that comes when you’re reading a masterpiece. So even though it wasn’t quite pogo-stick material, the book was pretty dang fantabulous.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Trackers is a well written work of fiction. It is full of the author’s beautifully descriptive passages. His writing is solid, creating richly developed characters. Charles Frazier is known for incorporating history in his story telling, this one takes place during the Great Depression era American West in the 1930’s. There is much humor spread through the book. One of my favorite parts in the book involved an airplane ride across the country…in the 1930’s, it was harrowing to say the least.

A downside to The Trackers was the lack of quotation marks which made it occasionally confusing, taking the narrative more into the stream of consciousness realm. Usually that is not something that would bother me, but I did find myself rereading passages to make sure I knew who was talking.

Charle Frazier’s The Trackers is a good read, a solid book club choice.

I requested this book not realizing it is the final installment in a trilogy. That's my fault, but I will say that not having read the first two books did not hinder my enjoyment of the third one. I am sure the reading experience would be enhanced by having the knowledge of what came before. However, Somebody's Fool stands on its own two feet as a really good book.

I enjoyed meeting all of the characters for the first time. I enjoyed learning their history. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing how they all grapple with the prospect of change and realize that it's not ever too late to try something new. You get all kinds of relationships here...mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, coworkers, lovers, ex-spouses. There is probably at least one character in this book that everyone in the world can relate to.

What I especially liked about this book is that by the end, you feel like all of your people are going to be okay. The details may not be fully worked out yet, but the reader feels like we're letting the curtain fall on a hopeful note. That is so important to me as a reader. There is nothing worse than growing to care about a cast of characters and then not finding out what happens (good or bad) to them.

The only storyline that didn't sit right with me was Charice's ending. I love that she is headed off to law school-that's amazing!-but it came across that she was letting the jerks in the department win, and that Raymer was coming in to save the day.

This book won't land with everybody, and that's okay. I would bump this up to 5 stars if we got a slight peek into the future, maybe 5 years hence, in a short epilogue. But even without that, this book is pretty good. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the world Elizabeth Strout has created in her books with characters that aren't so young anymore but still grappling with life's big questions.

Thank you for the publisher for the ARC! As a special note, the cover on this one is really well done. I looked up the other books in this trilogy on Amazon and they would not have caught my eye. This one, on the other hand, looks fresh and appealing. Well done to whomever designed the cover!

Richard Russo is my favorite author and thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for letting me read Somebody's Fool ahead of publication. Sully, the protagonist of the other Nobody's Fool and Everybody's Fool has died, North Bath is being annexed by Schuyler Springs and Sully's son, Peter has been left a list of people and situations to check in on and assist as needed. Some folks need more assistance than others, but it keeps him busy, especially after his estranged son shows up in town. Douglas Raymer is downsized from being the police chief, but is happy the love of his life takes the job in Schuyler Springs. There is a suicide and corruption, and Doug who has been an okay chief, rises to the occasion, helping in so many ways. Other, familiar characters are featured and it was great to be back among them. I highly recommend all the Fool books, in order, and this one especially.

Richard Russo is one of those authors I have been reading for a while (my dad got me into his books, Empire Falls was my first read of his) and he never fails to make me appreciate the value of a good piece of literary writing. I love his quirky characters, the way we get to know each character/voice through their thoughts and musings, and that Russo always seems to let the characters drive the plot in such an effective and engaging way. Somebody's Fool is a great follow up to Nobody's Fool and I remain an enduring fan of Russo's style, his willingness to capture the absurdity of every day life and the controlled chaos that is at times small town life or just midlife, and that he clearly has fun developing each character's voice and style.

Recommended for fans of this author and readers who enjoy John Irving, Armistead Maupin and other similar writers.

I mean really, what is there not to love about a Richard Russo book? This one certainly does not disappoint. I love the internal dialogue from each character, the way you are part of their painful or enlightening introspection. They work through their own personality quirks, how they handled each encounter and decision. In the hands of an author less talented than Mr. Russo this could become tedious but it is so well written that you just feel like you are part of their thought process. The story is well developed and picks up nicely from where we lost Sully. The added mystery is interesting, although I did figure out who the body was - just follow the clues. I highly recommend this book, along with all his previous books. All opinions are my own and not influenced by the ARC I received from the publisher through NetGalley and appreciate the opportunity to read this amazing book.

I really like Richard Russo’s books and writing style. Getting to know characters over time and the complexities of human relationships is one of my favorite types of stories. I really liked revisiting the people of North Bath (be sure to read Nobody’s Fool, then Everybody’s Fool first), though I did think it could use some editing for length (which it may get since I read an Advanced Reader Copy). If you enjoy other books by Richard Russo I recommend reading this book, again after you’ve read the first 2 in the series. ☺️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A great entry in a great series, focusing on people with screwed up lives wondering if it's too late to change. The answer is of course it isn't, but it's a struggle to get there. As Russo revisits favorite characters and meeting some new ones, North Bath is still down on its luck and even its consolidation with the more favorably bless Schuyler Springs probably isn't going to do much to fix that. Sully is gone, but he's still watching over his people. The question that these characters struggle with is, "Am I a decent person?" It's interesting to see that so many decent people are critically flawed, and that's what makes things interesting.