Mohawk

By Richard Russo

Book Overview

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls comes a wonderfully written novel about a small town in New York whose citizens have fallen on hard times.

"Immensely readable and sympathetic.... Mr. Russo has an instinctive gift for capturing the rhythms of small-town life." --The New York Times

Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks. Dallas Younger, a star athlete in high school, now drifts from tavern to poker game, losing money, and, inevitably, another set of false teeth. His ex-wife, Anne, is stuck in a losing battle with her mother over the care of her sick father. And their son, Randall, is deliberately neglecting his school work--because in a place like Mohawk it doesn't pay to be too smart.

In Mohawk, Russo explores these lives with profound compassion and flint-hard wit. Out of derailed ambitions and old loves, secret hatreds and communal myths, he has created a richly plotted, densely populated, and wonderfully written novel that captures every nuance of America's backyard.

Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679753826
• ISBN13: 9780679753827
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Really knowing a place provides a writer great insight

For one who was born there, inherited a sense of the craftsmanship history of the place, worked during the summer in a tannery while attending college and owned a glovemaking business in Gloversville, New York, I know of the places, times and people profiles Russo writes about in his novels beginning with Mohawk. Russo's deep understanding of the people in small mill town America is the thread that runs through each of his books---whether the story's town is in Upstate NY, PA or ME. The life stories of the people in small town America need to be told and Richard Russo does it best.

Mohawk

This is an outstanding novel, one that has well stood the test of time, even when compared to the author's excellent more recent work. All the "2-star" reviewers on this page ought to do themselves a favor and re-read this book.

A dose of what America's leaving behind

As with all of Russo's books, there is here a glimpse of the towns, villages, and lives so many of us have spent years longing to escape -- only to discover that, as quirky small town America is vanishing into a bland strip mall full of [local stores]-- it was what made out life complete. If Russo's well crafted novels help startle us from complaceny before the small towns of America have completely vanished, perhaps we'll have something worth giving to our children.

Waxing the hyperbole ...

Well, here goes ... I am an educated man, vis a vis the arts. Humbly, I am able to deconstruct Hyden, Mozart, Bach. I have studied art (and am, again, humbly, a craftsman myself) to be able to understand the brushwork, composition, and lighting of Monet, Hopper, Inness. But I'll be damned if I can begin to comprehend how a genius novelist is able to do what he does. Richard Russo is in the company of John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, Charles Dickens. Geez, I've FINALLY gotten around to reading "Mohawk", after marvelling at "Nobody's Fool" and "The Risk Pool". Folks: here is the greatest living American author. I'm gonna blanch at all this when I sober up, but here it is: do yourself a BIG favor, read Richard Russo.