A Permanent Member of the Family

Suffusedwith Banks'' trademark lyricism and reckless humor, the twelve stories in A Permanent Member of theFamily examine themyriad of ways we try-and sometimes fail-to connect with one another, as weseek a home in the world. In the title story, a father looks back on the legendof the cherished family dog whose divided loyalties mirrored the fragmenting ofhis marriage. In "Christmas Party," a young man entertains dark thoughts as hewatches his newly remarried ex-wife leading the life he once imagined theywould share. "Former Marine" asks, to chilling effect, if one can ever stopbeing a parent. And in the haunting, evocative "Searching for Veronica," amysterious woman looking for her missing daughter may not be who she claims sheis.

Moving between the stark beauty of winterin upstate New York and the seductive heat of Florida, A Permanent Member of theFamily charts withsubtlety and precision the ebb and flow of both the families we make forourselves and the ones we''re born into, as it asks how we know the ones we loveand, in turn, ourselves. One of our most acute and penetrating authors, Banks''virtuosic writing animates stories that are profoundly humane, deeply-anddarkly-funny, and absolutely unforgettable.