ONE QUIRKY CAMPUS

STRAIGHT MAN

By Richard Russo, Random House AudioBooks, 3 hours, abridged, $18. Narrated by Hal Linden.

Tragically underpublished novelist Hank Devereaux Jr., head of a college English department, makes “Good Morning, America” when he wears a false nose and glasses and threatens to kill one of the resident campus waterfowl every day until the dean gives him the budget he requires for his foundering department. An absurd, irreverent tale that turns ivory towers into faulty towers.