Mohawk

Richard Russo

Nov 2011 · Sold by Vintage

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Life has two principle truths: you are either growing or you are dying. Period. This applies to peoples, places and things: animal, vegetable and mineral. Mohawk is a town that is dying. It is filled with people who are struggling mightily with this reality. Trying desperately to reverse the course of their town or, at the very least, avoid the same course for their own lives. In the midst of decay, of buildings, businesses, roads, schools, churches and population – how does one resist the pull toward the same? Life is full of change – it is virtually the only true guarantee in life. Everything changes, constantly – this occurs at an ever-faster rate year by year. Failure to embrace change, to see it as an opportunity for growth, is to get trapped in its wake. The stories and characters in Mohawk reveal individuals who are caught in this wake – terrified of being sucked under buy equally terrified of letting go of the known. This is a common feeling – especially at mid-life. This is when we start to complain about how things “used” to be, what a better world it was 30 years ago, how screwed up everything is today and how the world is going to “hell in a hand basket.” It is not. Read newspaper, magazine and literary accounts of any time period in our past and you will find passionate proclamations of the “downfall of society.” Every current generation has a segment that laments what is current and feels great nostalgia for what was in their past. This relates to technology, cars, work, school – everything. Constant change is our new reality. People have not changed. We can choose to embrace the changes and focus on what does remain the same or focus only on the “things” that have changed. One perspective represents growth (life) and the other represents death (decay). Mohawk is a heartfelt, endearing, moving and blunt portrayal of life surrounded by decay. The lesson to be learned is that we always have a choice. Characters throughout the story dream of leaving (escaping) Mohawk, they believe that a better life exists on the other side of the city limits. The tricky nature of Decay is that it is as much mental as it is physical. It really resides within and it will follow you wherever you go. It is a paradigm through which one views the world – we see expansion or contraction, life or death, - you can change your life when you change your view. Peace & God Bless!

About the author

RICHARD RUSSO is the author of nine novels, most recently Chances Are..., Everybody’s Fool and That Old Cape Magic; two collections of stories; and the memoir Elsewhere. In 2002 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which, like Nobody’s Fool, was adapted into a multiple-award-winning miniseries; in 2017, he received France’s Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine. He lives in Port­land, Maine.