Life and Art: Essays

These stimulating pieces from Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Russo (Somebody’s Fool) explore his artistic process and upbringing in a blue-collar town in upstate New York. In “The Lives of Others,” Russo sensitively probes the ethics of writing fiction from the perspective of characters who belong to different identity groups than the author, suggesting that while such novelists as Rebecca Makkai have done so successfully, writers should be careful not to succumb to opportunism and to take seriously the moral responsibility of writing about marginalized groups. “From Lucky Jim to Lucky Hank” provides an insider’s view of the book to screen adaptation process, recounting how Russo modeled his 1997 novel, Straight Man, on Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim, and how The Office showrunner Paul Lieberstein updated Russo’s portrayal of middle-aged ennui for the 2023 series Lucky Hank. Russo’s skill as a storyteller is on full display throughout, but the impact of the autobiographical essays is dulled by repetition. For instance, “Marriage Story” and “What We Really Want from Stories” read like successive drafts of the same piece, both using Russo’s mother’s oversimplified explanation of her reasons for separating from his father as a springboard to investigate the contradictory power of stories to alternatively reveal or dissemble. Still, Russo’s fans will savor this. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (May)