'Everybody's Fool' revisits Sully Sullivan and his crumbling hometown
Donald 鈥淪ully鈥� Sullivan doesn鈥檛 quite know what to do with himself anymore. After a life lived right on the line 鈥� with more than a few hopscotches across it 鈥� the small-town hustler has come late to something resembling respectability.
鈥淭hese days 鈥� his third act well under way, though his core belief hadn鈥檛 changed, his behavior had,鈥� he thinks in Everybody鈥檚 Fool. 鈥淎t seventy, in what at least his doctors believed to be terminally failing health, Sully had reluctantly come to suspect that misbehavior was a younger man鈥檚 sport.鈥�
Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo鈥檚 return to his fictional upstate New York mill town also marks a welcome return to the hard-bitten, hard-drinking, hardscrabble comedy of his first novels. And his timing is impeccable: The 鈥淓mpire Falls鈥� author understands more about the 鈥減light of the working class鈥� than any so-called pundit attempting to decipher this election.
Sully is Russo鈥檚 most well-known and endearing character 鈥� his portrayal by Oscar-winner Paul Newman in the 1994 movie 鈥淣obody鈥檚 Fool鈥� certainly didn鈥檛 hurt. (I still have a huge fondness for Russo's academic satire, "Straight Man.")
Fiscal security sits uneasily on Sully in the ruefully wise sequel, set in the late 1990s. The man who once went to extraordinary lengths to steal his boss鈥檚 snow blower now has a savings account 鈥� 鈥渢he balance of which had now swollen to the point where, despite heroic resolve, he couldn鈥檛 possibly hope to drink it up at the Horse during what remained of his life.鈥�
The past 10 years have sent Sully and his hometown of North Bath on different trajectories. Both are a little more weather beaten, but the one doesn鈥檛 quite know what to do with his run of good fortune, while the other passed punch-drunk a long time ago and now can鈥檛 waste the energy flinching.
Justice in Bath is having a rough summer. The judge has died. At the funeral, the chief of police faints into his grave. This is not the most humiliating thing that will happen to Douglas Raymer over the weekend. (Readers of 鈥淣obody鈥檚 Fool,鈥� will remember him as the unfortunate officer who once pulled a gun on Sully. Fans of the film will remember him as played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.)
There鈥檚 a new mayor, Guy Moynihan, a retired college professor who wrote a newspaper editorial 鈥渄ecrying the town鈥檚 moribund defeatism and criticizing the current Republican administration鈥檚 unspoken policies, which could be summed up, he claimed, in nine words: No Spending. None. Ever. On Anything. Under Any Circumstances.鈥�
Bath has begun a beautification program 鈥� looking into benches, bike trails, and the possibility of serving ramps (whatever those are) in local restaurants. 鈥淥vernight, the new byword was 鈥榩artnering.鈥� 鈥� If they can鈥檛 outdo their sister city, Schuyler Springs (and they can鈥檛 鈥� not after 100 years of trying), North Bath will stop being a resentful bystander and instead become a partner in success. In theory, anyway.
Efforts to turn the old shoe factory into urban lofts go wildly awry 鈥� courtesy of Sully鈥檚 old boss, Carl Roebuck, whose Tip Top Construction is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. 鈥淥ld-guard pessimists grumbled that the town wasn鈥檛 so much partnering for tomorrow with a gifted entrepreneur as fronting for yesterday鈥檚 known swindler.鈥�
Even more harmful to the town鈥檚 efforts to attract tourists, there鈥檚 a stench hovering like a miasma any time the temperature hits 85. 鈥淏ath, visitors remarked, wrinkling their noses and quickly getting back in their cars, needed a long one itself.鈥� The local cemetery is eroding, leading to headlines like 鈥淒ead on the Move in Bath.鈥� And someone has let loose a cobra at the rundown apartment complex.
The cobra is actually only the second-most venomous denizen of Bath, after wife beater and all-around nasty piece of work Roy Purdy, who is back in town with his list (similar to Arya鈥檚 on 鈥淕ame of Thrones,鈥� only he鈥檚 neither plucky nor adorable).
Against these forces of chaos stand Sully and his erstwhile opponent Chief Raymer, the fool of the title, who isn鈥檛 sure he鈥檚 cut out for his chosen profession. (Neither is anyone else in town, except Charice, his dispatch officer.) 鈥淧olice work, more than any other profession, attracted people for the wrong reasons 鈥� in Raymer鈥檚 case, the desire to be useful. You鈥檇 be given orders and you鈥檇 execute these to the best of your ability. It never occurred to him that part of the job was figuring out, without being told, exactly what the job was.鈥�
In addition to his hangdog personality and stammer, Raymer has been thrown off-balance by the death of his wife, Becka, on the day she had planned to leave him. The only clue he has to the identity of her lover is a garage door-opener. Becka鈥檚 unhappiness is unsurprising: If times are hard for the men in North Bath, the women experience lives of bone-grinding toughness.
Raymer (motto, thanks to a typo: 鈥淚鈥檓 not happy until you鈥檙e not happy鈥�) had a small part in the first book. Here, he becomes the shambling hero, sharing narrative duties with Sully, Sully鈥檚 sidekick Rub; Sully鈥檚 former lover, Ruth, who runs the local diner; and other residents. That broadening of viewpoints can make the plot feel more diffuse, especially since not every character holds readers鈥� attentions as well as the two fools of the piece.
But, from the physical comedy to the comeuppances, Russo, who knows where every barrel of toxic waste is buried in town, remains ultimately in control of his big-hearted, calloused novel. The characters may never figure out how to prepare ramps, but this tourist will always welcome a chance to drop back in on North Bath.
