Richard Russo's Straight Man (1997) is a novel about William Henry Devereaux, Jr.'s (also called "Hank") mid-life crisis. Russo's novel is set in a fictional town in Pennsylvania and follows the aforementioned Hank, the misanthropic chairman of the English department at a fictional college. Hank is deeply unhappy with his job and the students that he teaches. As a result, he has begun to act out. For instance, he fights geese, picks a fight with one of the students who was annoying him and starts to fight with his wife. Ultimately, Hank decides that he has spent too much of his life focused on negative things and decides to become more positive.
A television series entitled Lucky Hank, which was adapted from Russo's novel premiered on the AMC network in early 2023. The series starred Bob Odenkirk as Hank and received critical acclaim, much like the novel on which it was based.
To that end, Straight Man received positive reviews when it was published. Tom DeHaven of The New York Times called Russo's novel "hilarious" and compared the book to the comedy of Robin Williams. Tom Cox of The Guardian thought even more highly of the novel. He called Straight Man a "forgotten classic" and called the novel's characters "hugely endearing."
