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Richard Russo was born in Johnstown, New York, in 1949 and grew up in nearby Gloversville. His father, Jim, was a highway worker who, Russo has said, revised his pub stories according to what got laughs, the way a novelist revises a draft. Russo took three degrees at the University of Arizona, taught literature at Colby College in Maine until 1996. Nobody’s Fool (1993), set in the fictional upstate town of North Bath, became a 1994 film with Paul Newman; Empire Falls, set in a Maine mill town, won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; Straight Man became the AMC series Lucky Hank in 2023. His newest novel, Under the Falls, published by Knopf on 11 August 2026, sends a Nashville musician home to a small upstate town for a benefit concert. The ten writers below share his territory: towns past their best, fathers and sons, and comedy that lets nobody off the hook.
By Lisanne Swart · 10 authors · Small-town fiction · Comedy · Working-class lives · Updated October 2026
Quick answer
If you love Richard Russo, start with Elizabeth Strout, whose Olive Kitteridge (2008) is another Pulitzer-winning book about a small town in Maine. Anne Tyler gives one city the same affectionate, comic attention, and John Irving shares his New England settings and his big-hearted comedy. Further down are the small-town book that came before them all and a novelist who writes the same mill-town country with no comic rescue.
10 authors like Richard Russo
Where to start if you loved Richard Russo
If you want another Pulitzer-winning Maine town, read Strout.
Olive Kitteridge (2008) is the natural companion to Empire Falls.
If you want the campus comedy, read Lodge.
Changing Places (1975) is the British cousin of Straight Man.
If you want the same towns without the jokes, read Banks.
Affliction (1989) takes the same small-town northeast and a difficult father, and gives them no comic relief.
If you want a whole career in one place, read Haruf.
Plainsong (1999) begins his novels of Holt, Colorado.
If you are new to Russo himself, start with Empire Falls.
The 2001 novel won the Pulitzer; then read Nobody’s Fool (1993) and its sequels Everybody’s Fool (2016) and Somebody’s Fool (2023).
Frequently asked questions about authors like Richard Russo
Who writes like Richard Russo?
Elizabeth Strout, Anne Tyler and John Irving are the closest matches, with Kent Haruf and Russell Banks for the small towns.
What should I read after Empire Falls?
Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge (2008), another Pulitzer-winning book about a small town in Maine.
Does Richard Russo have a new book?
Yes. Under the Falls, a novel about a Nashville musician who returns to a small upstate New York town for a benefit concert, was published by Knopf on 11 August 2026. An essay collection, Life and Art, appeared in 2025.
Which Richard Russo book should I read first?
Empire Falls (2001), which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Is Nobody’s Fool part of a series?
Yes. Everybody’s Fool (2016) and Somebody’s Fool (2023) return to North Bath and to Sully.
Is Richard Russo like John Irving?
Both write long, comic, generous novels set largely in New England. Irving’s plots are stranger; Russo stays closer to work, money and small-town life.
Sources
- Richard Russo — Wikipedia
- Under the Falls review — Kirkus Reviews
- Richard Russo, Under the Falls — Boston Globe
- Elizabeth Strout — Wikipedia
List last reviewed 31 October 2026.
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