Amid all the quips and clever comebacks that fly through the halls of the dysfunctional English department at West Central Pennsylvania University in Richard Russo's (Nobody's Fool) latest novel, you find the reason for both all the antagonistic levity and the book's title. William Henry Devereaux, Jr., the story's narrator, states clearly:

In English departments the most serious competition is for the role of straight man.

Continuing funding slashes have got rumors of staff cutbacks running rampant, and Hank's colleagues suspect him of having prepared a "list" that recommends who should get the boot, regardless of tenure. Hank hasn't, but it's not in his character to tell them if he has or not, and the English department threatens mutiny, calling a vote for a new chair.

That each and every member of the department should fear firing is not surprising, for paranoia is part of the academic game, and every person on staff has good reason for suspecting he (or she) won't make the grade. There's white linen-suited Finny, who outed himself just long enough to get divorced before reverting to claims of heterosexuality that no one believes, and who has a Ph.D. from American Sonora University,

an institution that exists, so far as we've been able to determine, only on letterhead and in the form of a post office box in Del Rio, Texas, the onetime home, if I'm not mistaken, of Wolfman Jack.

While he wrestles with this motley crew over department matters, Hank's got much more in life that demands his attention. His daughter, who has failed to inherit Hank or his wife Lily's love of language and writing, is in deep debt moneywise over her house (a copy to the room of her parents') and on the outs with her unemployed husband. Hank himself is unsure whether or not he'd care if he got canned. Lily is checking out distant job opportunities, and Hank vaguely suspects that she's having an affair with his dean. His adopted dog has developed enough self-assurance to "groin" everyone who visits. He worries that he's developing a stone -- as runs in the men in his family -- due to his having one hell of a time trying to pee. The biggest thing is perhaps his mother's informing him that the man he's tried hard not to think much about for most of his life, the father who deserted Hank and his mother for a succession of trophy graduate students, is going to be making a reappearance, perhaps for good, in their lives.

This novel of campus, family, midlife crisis and death threats against ducks bursts with humor and tenderness. Richard Russo has created characters who come quickly to colorful life. You won't want the story to end because you want to keep on seeing Hank Devereaux's world through his incomparable eyes. You will, however, be happy that you spent some time along with him for the ride.