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The Risk Pool Paperback – April 12, 1994

by Richard Russo (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,342 ratings
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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls comes a wonderfully funny novel set in Mohawk, New York, where Ned Hall is doing his best to grow up, even though neither of his estranged parents can properly be called adult.

"Superbly original and maliciously funny." —The New York Times Book Review

His father, Sam, cultivates bad habits so assiduously that he is stuck at the bottom of his auto insurance risk pool. His mother, Jenny, is slowly going crazy from resentment at a husband who refuses either to stay or to stay away. As Ned veers between allegiances to these grossly inadequate role models, Richard Russo gives us a book that overflows with outsized characters and outlandish predicaments and whose vision of family is at once irreverent and unexpectedly moving.

Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    April 12, 1994
  5. Dimensions
    5.17 x 1.1 x 7.94 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0679753834
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0679753834
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Russo proves himself a master at evoking the sights, feelings, and smells of a town.... [The Risk Pool is] superbly original and maliciously funny." —The New York Times Book Review

"A fine, closely observed novel ... Richard Russo writes with such sympathy and attention to the rhythms of small-town life that he invests inarticulate lives with genuine passion.... [He] has succeeded in creating characters with the emotional weight of people we've known in real life." —The New York Times

"Weighted with wonderful detail ... a rich, anecdotal novel brimming with the metaphorical lessons of adolescence: on pocket billiards and sexual frustration, trout fishing and serenity." —The Boston Globe

"Richard Russo has it just perfect in The Risk Pool. A gem of a novel." —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

From the Inside Flap

A wonderfully funn and perceptive novel in the traditions of Thornton Wilder and Anne Tyler, The Risk Pool is set in Mohawk, New York, where Ned Hall is doing his best to grow up, even though neither of his estranged parents can properly be called adult.

His father, Sam, cultivates bad habits so assiduously that he is stuck at the bottom of his auto insurance risk pool. His mother, Jenny, is slowly going crazy from resentment at a husband who refuses either to stay or to stay away. As Ned veers between allegiances to these grossly inadequate role models, Richard Russo gives us a book that overflows with outsized characters and outlandish predicaments and whose vision of family is at once irreverent and unexpectedly moving.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reissue edition (April 12, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679753834
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679753834
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.17 x 1.1 x 7.94 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,342 ratings

About the author

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Richard Russo

Richard Russo

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Rick Russo is the author of six previous novels and THE WHORE'S CHILD, a collection of stories. In 2002, he received the Pulitzer Prize for EMPIRE FALLS. He lives with his wife in Camden, Maine, and Boston.

Photo credit Elena Seibert

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,342 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Watson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2023
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A very entertaining novel with memorable characters and situations. Describes dysfunctional relationships that are resolved in a realistic manner without being judgmental. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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PrimoReads
4.0 out of 5 stars Early Russo
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2010
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"The Risk Pool" is one of Richard Russo's earlier novels and shines with Russo's subtle style. It has elements typical of a Russo novel - setting is a small town in upstate New York which has seen better days, tricky family relationships, likable main characters, and a large group of colorful secondary characters. This particular novel focuses on Ned Hall and his relationship with his father.

Ned is 6 years old when we first meet him. His father (Sam) ran off soon after Ned was born so Ned's knowledge of Sam is limited. Ned tells schoolmates that his father is dead, that is, until one day when his father appears outside his school. For reasons not entirely clear, Sam has decided to begin a relationship with his young son.

Sam is a mess, a irresponsible happy drunk who gambles, is often unemployed, broke, and behind on his bills, and yet, Ned is in awe of his father. Like many irresponsible fathers in Russo novels, Sam disappears again from Ned's life only to return abruptly a few years later. Around this same time, Ned's mother has a nervous breakdown and so Ned moves into Sam's apartment and begins the next stage of their relationship when Ned is 12 years old. They live together for about 2 years, during which time Ned is often left alone, sometimes overnight, but surprisingly enough no disaster occurs.

Flash forward to 24 year old Ned in grad school, and we pick up the story again. This time, one of Sam's friends calls Ned in New Mexico to let him know that Sam is drinking entirely too much and is out of control. Ned drops out of school and returns to his home town where he becomes a bartender for the summer. Father and son again have quality time together (over drinks this time). While Ned is unable to get Sam to stop drinking, Sam curtails his behavior in order not to embarrass Ned. Each time Sam behaves irresponsibly Ned forgives him, and it's easy to understand why - Sam is such a likable character.

The next time we drop in on Ned, he's in his mid-thirties and living in New York. Again he is drawn into father's world as Sam experiences health problems. Russo draws us in so completely that we also are in awe of Sam even as he continues to make bad decisions.

There isn't much action in this book, and yet it held my attention. Russo is particular gifted at creating believable characters with many faults. Throughout the book this father-son relationship is key to the plot, in fact, it is the plot. Highly recommended.
8 people found this helpful
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John R. Linnell
5.0 out of 5 stars Russo's Writing Is Such A Treat
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2002
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Although I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Richard Russo's last three books, I tend to forget after a while what a treat it is to read his beautifully crafted writing. The Risk Pool is the story of Ned Hall and his coming of age in Mohawk, NY. Ned's father Sam first saw his son after being kidnapped from a poker game by his father-in-law at gun point ("Deal me out a couple of hands") and taken to the hospital where his wife lay with young Ned on her breast. It must have been, as young Ned recounts, "a tender moment".
Sam Hall, we are told at the beginning knew what he wanted to do when the war he was serving in was over. He wanted to drink and whore and play the horses. That was a plan that Sam dedicated himself to for the rest of his life.
What Sam's life plan does to the lives of those around him as he bounces through life like a pin ball is described through the eyes of his son, Ned. It is funny, honest, pathetic, touching, and outrageous. It is also compelling. The man who took Sam to first see his son with a pistol in his ear, always said there were four seasons in Mohawk. Fourth of July, Mohawk Fair, Eat the Bird and Winter and the book is divided into sections bearing those names as Ned grows and the story unwinds.
Give yourself a treat and read this book.
5 people found this helpful
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T. L. Marsters
5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Russo's genius is undeniable.
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2014
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Richard Russo is my favorite modern writer. He never disappoints.

Sam Hall rebelled against anything that hampered his living life as he saw fit. He admitted to doing only one thing right in his life--his son, Ned. Ned turned out all right in spite of his father, whom he loved unreasonably. Ned's temperamental, nerves-shot mother spent two years in an institution, leaving him to the ham fisted, rough-but-caring influences of his father. But thanks to living his early years with his mother, Ned was able to limit -- somewhat--how much he emulated his father over his growing-up years.

Russo's tight use of the language and his ability to activate all five senses with mere words is awe-inspiring. The reader is left feeling the same unexplainable affection for Sam Hall that most of the folks in their small town felt. Throughout the book, Russo presented all the reasons in the world why Sam Hall shouldn't be loved. But he also showed you many reasons why folks did. Life is complicated.
4 people found this helpful
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mrliteral
4.0 out of 5 stars No Second Novel Blues
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2003
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In the Risk Pool, Richard Russo follows up on his first novel, Mohawk, with a return to that same small town. It is only in the loosest sense a sequel, with only a couple minor characters from the first book returning. Instead, it is another successful Russo exploration of the themes that run throughout his books: the dying of the small town and the relationship between fathers and sons.
More particularly, Russo explores the damage wayward fathers cause. In this case, Sam Hall abandons his son Ned shortly after birth and returns only haphazardly to create additional messes. Sam is a deadbeat dad, a drunkard and a philanderer and interestingly, one of the better fathers depicted in a Russo story: when the going gets tough, Sam does at least somewhat come through for his son.
The town of Mohawk is not a pleasant place; while many are happy within, it is a trap, one which Sam and his estranged wife, Jenny, cannot escape. Whether Ned can overcome the snares of his parents and his home is one of the questions that are at least partially answered within.
If I am not really getting into plot here, it is because there really isn't much of one; this book is more or less Ned Hall's memoir, the tale of his childhood and young adulthood. As always, Russo delivers with great writing, a blend of the humorous and the serious, and if this doesn't quite rate five stars - he has even better books such as Nobody's Fool and Empire Falls - it is a strong four star book and well worth reading.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

MissB
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and at times very funny tale of a father and son and the deep ties that bind them
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2019
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Despite being an avid reader, I rarely feel drawn to leaving a review of a book, but just had to write something about this one. It is such a heart-warming book that really moved me. I have loved all of Richard Russo's other books but for some reason had never read this one. Whilst trying to buy his new book - Chances Are - I came across The Risk Pool, and I am so glad I did.
It takes a little getting into but once you do you'll be hooked. The tales of Ned and his father Sam, and his group of gambling and drinking cohorts, all set against the backdrop of Mohawk, a small, somewhat decaying, town in Upstate New York, are at times laugh out loud funny, other times poignant, sometimes plain sad. I loved everything about this book, and the more you read, the more you get completely caught up in the lives of this rich cast of characters.
All humankind is here and you'll be bereft when the novel comes to an end, left wanting more.
The last few chapters are particularly heart-felt and poignant. Above all else the novel is a universal tale of a father and son and the deep ties that bind them.
2 people found this helpful
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Patricia Battistel
5.0 out of 5 stars On my list as one of the very best American authors.
Reviewed in Canada on June 8, 2017
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Love this author, and this book. I've read almost everything available from him and have not been disappointed yet. Nobody's Fool was the first that I read - and it was honest, poignant as well as laugh-out-loud - a tough combo to achieve.
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kay
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2015
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As well written and absorbing as all Russo's work
One person found this helpful
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John Lawless
5.0 out of 5 stars Yearning to stay with Russo and his people.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2019
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What a great read. All human life is here. It’s the first of Russo’s novels that I have read and am now asking myself “Why did I not discover him before this”. All the world is in upstate Mowhawk in the 1950’s. Here you will meet an assemblage of characters that you just seem to know from the get go. Skinny, Tree, Drew, Sam, Eileen, Mike and the narrator all become your friends. It’s the community where everybody knows everybody’s business, but where the down at heel look after one another too. There is an empathy in this writing as you get into the quiet desperation and great fortitude of these lovely people. There’s lots and lots of fun too, especially in the sharpness of the witticisms that pepper the pages. You get drawn in and find yourself sliding up to a friend on a barstool to be challenged to the extremities of your own wit. The descriptions such as those of handicapped betting on horse racing or learning to drive or the male rhythm of round drinking are all classics. You will not want to put this book down as you will yearn to be in the company of Russo and his characters long after you have reached the last page.
3 people found this helpful
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Susan Dickens
5.0 out of 5 stars Always a great read !
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2021
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Richard Russo is a brilliant writer! Always a good read .
One person found this helpful
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