A Permanent Member of the Family is the first short story collection from Russell Banks since 2000's The Angel on the Roof. Each of these stories portrays people longing to connect with something, someone, anything--or, as in one story, "Former Marine," to disconnect.
The eponymous story refers to a dog, a part poodle mutt named Sarge, who is not part of the shared custody arrangement worked out between the principals in a divorce. Their three girls travel amicably the few blocks between houses, spending three and a half days a week in each place. Sarge, however, is supposed to stay with Mom, but travels to Dad's house at will. One day, Dad runs over the dog. Everyone believes Sarge was already dead or she would have come out from under the car, but the event still changes the family's relationships irrevocably; eventually, the girls see their father only once a month and then for just a week before summer camp begins.
In "Snowbirds," Isabel prevails upon her recalcitrant husband to spend the winter in a rented condo in Miami Beach. Barely a month into that first winter, George drops dead on the tennis court. Isabel is a remarkably merry widow; her first act is to buy a new convertible. Her best friend, Jane, flies to be at her side and, watching Isabel's new freedom, begins to question the strength of her own attachment to her husband. She stays longer than intended and Isabel lets her know that whatever she decides to do, Isabel will support that decision--not at all the outcome either expected.
"Big Dog" starts with the great news that Erik, a writer, has won a MacArthur "genius" grant. The grantors ask him not to mention it to anyone until they have released the news to the press. Erik can't keep it to himself and when he and Ellen join friends for dinner, he tells them. The fallout from the announcement has various consequences--and though some are predictable, Ellen's reaction is not.
Every story is thematically different from the others; what unites them is Bank's deep insight into people and situations. Just as he masterfully depicts contemporary American life in novels such as Lost Memory of Skin, The Reserve and, memorably, Continental Drift, Banks's short fiction is relentlessly realistic, never cynical and always attentive to the human condition. --Valerie Ryan
Shelf Talker: Banks's 12 stories, including six never before published, illustrate turning points and critical moments in the lives of ordinary people.