Suffused with Russell 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. “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 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, Banks’s acute and penetrating collection demonstrates the range and virtuosity of both his narrative prowess and his startlingly panoramic vision of modern American life.

本書充斥著拉賽爾‧班克斯的招牌故事和詼諧幽默，本書當中的 12 個小故事描繪了我們在這個世界上追尋歸屬感的過程，我們試過各種方法與他人連結，但有時候卻不盡人意。與本書同名的故事當中，一位父親回想家裡那隻備受寵愛的狗背後的傳奇故事，狗兒的忠貞反映出他破碎的婚姻。在〈前海軍陸戰隊隊員〉當中，拋出一個令人不寒而慄的問題，當父母親的義務是否永無止盡？而在令人回味無窮的〈維若妮卡〉中，一位神秘的婦人要找尋她的女兒，但她的真實身分似乎不是她所聲稱的。

故事場景穿梭在紐約北部令人屏息的冬季美景和弗羅里達州熱情如火的城市當中，班克斯那急促又具有穿透性的故事證明了他精湛的敘事能力和對當代美國生活獨樹一幟的見解。