Originally published in 1986 in the Vintage Contemporaries paperback series--and reissued now in hardcover alongside his masterful new novel, "Empire Falls"--Richard Russo's "Mohawk" remains today as it was described then: A first novel with all the assurance of a mature writer at the peak of form a...

Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks. Its citizens, too, have fallen on hard times. Dallas Younger, a star athlete in high school, now drifts from tavern to poker game, losing money, and, inevitably, another set of false teeth. His...

Mohawk, New York, is one of those small towns that lie almost entirely on the wrong side of the tracks. Its citizens, too, have fallen on hard times. Dallas Younger, a star athlete in high school, now drifts from tavern to poker game, losing money, and, inevitably, another set of false teeth. His...