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Original Title: A Permanent Member of the Family
ISBN: 0061857653 (ISBN13: 9780061857652)
Edition Language: English
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A Permanent Member of the Family Hardcover | Pages: 240 pages
Rating: 3.59 | 1265 Users | 227 Reviews

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Title:A Permanent Member of the Family
Author:Russell Banks
Book Format:Hardcover
Book Edition:Special Edition
Pages:Pages: 240 pages
Published:November 12th 2013 by Ecco
Categories:Short Stories. Fiction. Literary Fiction

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A masterly collection of new stories from Russell Banks, acclaimed author of The Sweet Hereafter and Rule of the Bone, which maps the complex terrain of the modern American family

The New York Times lauds Russell Banks as "the most compassionate fiction writer working today" and hails him as a novelist who delivers "wrenching, panoramic visions of American moral life." Long celebrated for his unflinching, empathetic works that explore the unspoken but hard realities of contemporary culture, Banks now turns his keen intelligence and emotional acuity on perhaps his most complex subject yet: the shape of family in its many forms.

Suffused with Banks's trademark lyricism and reckless humor, the twelve stories in A Permanent Member of the Family examine the myriad ways we try—and sometimes fail—to connect with one another, as we seek a home in the world. In the title story, a father looks back on the legend of the cherished family dog whose divided loyalties mirrored the fragmenting of his marriage. In "Christmas Party," a young man entertains dark thoughts as he watches his newly remarried ex-wife leading the life he once imagined they would share. "A Former Marine" asks, to chilling effect, if one can ever stop being a parent. And in the haunting, evocative "Veronica," a mysterious woman searching for her missing daughter may not be who she claims she is.

Moving between the stark beauty of winter in upstate New York and the seductive heat of Florida, A Permanent Member of the Family charts with subtlety and precision the ebb and flow of both the families we make for ourselves and the ones we're born into, as it asks how we know the ones we love and, in turn, ourselves. One of our most acute and penetrating authors, Banks's virtuosic writing animates stories that are profoundly humane, deeply—and darkly—funny, and absolutely unforgettable.

Russell Banks is one of America's most prestigious fiction writers, a past president of the International Parliament of Writers, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been translated into twenty languages and has received numerous prizes and awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. He lives in upstate New York and Miami, Florida.

Rating Appertaining To Books A Permanent Member of the Family
Ratings: 3.59 From 1265 Users | 227 Reviews

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The characters in Russell Banks' stories are suffering with quiet desperation, their needs and desires capitulated to circumstances beyond their control (divorce, abandonment) or the tacit resignation of middle age where certain realities are no longer escapable. His stories are vignettes of small-town life where the complicated realities of people's lives are masked by the simplicity of their surroundings, making their actions all the more surprisingin "Christmas Party," a man's ex-wife adopts

I seldom read short stories, in a collection or singly. I don't know if this is because I was never really taught to appreciate this literary form--or if I find it frustrating. These stories were especially frustrating. Brief encounters with interesting characters that I wanted to spend days on end with, or at least find out what happened next. A very good collection of stories.

Given the unsettled nature of the families in Russell Banks' dozen stories, the title of his sixth short story collection, A Permanent Member of the Family, might have a bit of an ironic aroma to it. Marriage is, if anything, impermanent here. The title character in Former Marine had to raise his boys alone after their mother took off. Philandering, while not depicted, is noted as causative in the demise of several other relationships in the collection. And even when a marriage has not

Given the unsettled nature of the families in Russell Banks' dozen stories, the title of his sixth short story collection, A Permanent Member of the Family, might have a bit of an ironic aroma to it. Marriage is, if anything, impermanent here. The title character in Former Marine had to raise his boys alone after their mother took off. Philandering, while not depicted, is noted as causative in the demise of several other relationships in the collection. And even when a marriage has not

Russell Banks has written some great novels (Continental Drift is still my favorite). But I think he is also a great short story writer. Many of his stories are about people on the boundary, not making it and not completely defeated either.Ventana in the story Blue is a good example -- having saved $3500, she is ready to buy a used car. She has passed by the lot countless times on her way home from work. The day finally arrives when she can actually buy. She's a nothing to the sales people --

Russell Banks hasn't quite figured out how to talk like anyone besides Russell Banks; there is one story in this collection from the point of view of an older black woman, and it almost felt like literary blackface; reading it in public made me want to issue an apology to everyone around me while crawling under a rug. Most of his stories are from the point of view of older white men, or older white women who sound a lot like the older white men, and hey if that's what you know writing what you

I'd never read any of Russell Banks, until picking up this book after a high personal bookshop employee recommendation and a review in the Irish Times. This is a great book and he belongs with the very best masters of the short story genre. He doesn't have the same publicly acclaimed reputation in Europe, but, is up there with Ford and Carver. He seems to be a writer's writer. These are 12 stories drawn from the panorama of modern American life, mostly revolving around the complexity and