Richard Russo Revisits Fictional Blue-Collar New York Town in ‘Everybody’s Fool’

Author Richard Russo is known for his novels, such as Empire Falls, which won him the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2002.

His third novel, Nobody's Fool (1993), took place in North Bath, N.Y., a blue-collar, Rust Belt town. But Russo just couldn't stay away from North Bath and its citizens and denizens. And so, decades after he first visited the fictional upstate New York town and its characters, he decided to drop in and see what everyone was up to in his latest novel, Everybody's Fool. (As it turns out, they're up to quite a bit.)

Russo recently talked about his work with Houston Public Media's Dacia Clay, and in this interview, he talks about spending time with his old friends Sully and Raymer, what compelled him to go back to North Bath, and what he learned about himself as a writer by doing so.

Also discussed: the perks and burdens of being a Pulitzer Prize-winner, the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the tawdry implications of garage door openers.

Richard Russo will hold an event at Brazos Bookstore on March 23 at 7 p.m.

MORE: Dacia Clay’s Extended Interview with Richard Russo (Houston Public Media, March 15, 2017)