Chances Are You Won't Enjoy Chances Are by Richard Russo

This review I wrote for Chances Are by Richard Russo has some wisdom for writers.  I have to say, my Chances Are series is much better. 

Chances Are . . . by Richard Russo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was pretty dull. The first third is mostly a big infodump focusing largely on two geriatric guys: Lincoln, an aged Yuppie and Teddy, an impotent academic. A third geriatric guy named Mickey is a low-level rocker who gets far less time. They all get together on Nantucket and then it turns into a really boring mystery about what happened to their friend Jacy, the stereotypical rebellious rich girl.

I thought at the point Lincoln talks to a former cop that this would really make a good Matthew Scudder book by Lawrence Block. It's just the kind of case a former cop-turned-not-quite-PI would take on. Lincoln could have gone to Scudder, who would have started asking around. Maybe there could have been a couple of close calls and twists before ultimately coming to the same Lifetime movie/Nicholas Sparks-like conclusion.

That would have had the benefit of having a master of mysteries/thrillers at the helm. With a literary writer whose best works 25-30 years ago focused on small town life, this doesn't work. The bland characters aren't interesting and there's too much time given to Lincoln and Teddy, who are just dull. I suppose those were the characters Russo related to the most and when you've won a Pulitzer you have carte blanche to basically do what you want. While neither guy is as dull and annoying as "Lucy" in Bridge of Sighs, neither is one you want to read a book about.

Also I wish the author had used a thesaurus to find some synonyms for "genuflect." It's really not a common enough word to use so often. There was another section using "repudiate" several times in a short span. It's something with a less experienced author that an editor might jump on, but again when you've won a Pulitzer, you can pretty much do what you want and the publisher will just print it.

Anyway, since winning that prestigious prize, Russo hasn't really done much that's been great. It's a shame.

That is all.

View all my reviews

(Fun Fact:  I was dismayed when Teddy lists some of his favorite bands and they're all ones I have albums of like The Decemberists, Belle & Sebastian, and Mumford & Sons.  So apparently I have the same musical taste as a 65-year-old impotent academic.  D'OH!)