November 5, 2007

Richard Russo

Richard Russo retired early from Colby College in order to write full-time. He has set several novels in New York and Pennsylvania, but given his fascination with decaying towns and their struggling inhabitants, he was bound to write of a Maine mill town sooner or later. Empire Falls (Knopf, 2001) won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize. It was followed by The Whore’s Child and Other Stories (Knopf, 2002).

This interview with Richard Russo by Charlotte Albright was included on the Council’s 30th Anniversary CD, ‘Maine Writers Speak.’

Please leave a comment here to share your thoughts on this interview.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The notion of "a way of life that is disappearing before our eyes," that we can't seem to understand or change, is a central dilemma of contemporary life. And that change is constantly accelerating. I didn't care for Empire Falls when I read it or watched the film. It struck me as a giant carpetbag of a novel filled with sentimental cliches, but this interview was nicely done and made me think it might be worth rereading.