01-03-14:Russell Banks Welcomes 'A Permanent Member of the Family'
The Rest of Us
The exception is the rule in much published fiction. We like to read about the woman who hears the voices of the dead, or the man who climbs the huge mountain, stories that by virtue of extraordinary characters get s sort of head start.
In 'A Permanent Member of the Family,' Russell Banks takes the opposite path, writing stories about aging men with bad job prospects, working women who save hard for a used car, divorcés, widows; the sort of folks you probably know. The result is a delightful, engaging, and often powerful collection of stories that pinpoint the lives of average people with careful details and a unique sensibility.
Eight of the twelve stories here appeared elsewhere in venues ranging from Conjunctions to Yale Review to a limited edition anthology edited by Roddy Doyle. The upshot is that for most readers, most or all of the stories will be new. That said, they're all strong enough to be enjoyably re-read in this new setting.
The first story, "Former Marine," takes a close look at a relationship we don't see often enough, as a father of three adult son finds himself in the sort of bind that good fathers are supposed to be able to avoid. Banks strips down the prose and story to a bare bones state that the father would appreciate. The title story brings in the first of many dogs you'll find in this collection, as well as the first of many divorcés. Here, the prose gets just a bit more effusive, with the right hints of lyricism in the first-person narrative.
"A Christmas Party" finds Harold Bilodeaux invited to his now-married ex's holiday do. Readers going through the collection in order will find his unsurprising fate nonetheless entertaining. Banks' sense of what comprises a short story ensures that readers are catapulted into the lives they so briefly visit during their short stay. It's an interesting effect that he manages again and again without using the same launchpoint.
For all the unhappy accuracy in the book, there's a lot of fun to be found here as well. Ventana, a working woman who saved for that car and now, armed with cash, goes to buy one, finds herself in an increasingly absurd and quite funny, situation. In "Snowbirds," we meet Idabel Pelham, easily the most cheerful widow to refrain from weeping you'll encounter on the printed page this year. Banks manages the very nice trick of finding humor in reality, of evoking laughter not from farce so much as from blunt, but not brutal, honesty.
The real grace to be found in these stories of very everyday Americans is the sense of balance that Bank so easily achieves. He never pushes too far or enters his tales with an agenda. The stories here are more like perfect photographs, snapshots that capture more than the images themselves. In these words, life finds a way out.
12-30-13:T. C. Boyle Finds 'A Death in Kitchawank'
T. C. Boyle Stories II
'T. C. Boyle Stories II' includes three previous collections of stories; 'After the Plague,' 'Tooth and Claw' and 'Wild Child,' plus one new collection of stories 'A Death in Kitchawank.' It's an interesting proposition for the prospective buyer. By any measure, 58 stories by T. C. Boyle are a great thing.
In one large volume like this, it's perfect bed stand reading, even if you already own copies of the previous works. Boyle's stories are entertainingly re-readable. At $45, it's going to set you back about the cost of two hardcovers, and you're getting the content of one new set of stories. The new stories have all the virtues of the old ones, and look in some new and very interesting directions. Pulling it all together is an equally entertaining and informative Preface by the author.
The math works out to "Buy one new; get three old for the price of one." It's sort of like a grocery store special for high literature, and one's inclination to spend the money is likely to be directly proportional to the number of the previous collections that are already in your collection. Completists will certainly want one, and if you've never read Boyle' stories, this is a great place to start.
Math aside, the writing is what matters. The three previous collections have aged well, with Boyle even showing a bit of prescience now and again. Go back for "Peep Hall," a 1999 tale about privacy and the Internet that still chills and cuts close to the bone. "Wild Child" even offers readers a nicely turned historical novella amidst the sea of stories. Just the three collections, in one well-produced volume, would be a treat.
Boyle's new work, here called "Part IV: A Death in Kitchawank," is in top form, from his preface through the final new story, "Birnam Wood," where we see life — and an offhand comment — take their toll on a couple. "Sic Transit" takes readers behind the overgrown hedges of the derelict-seeming, but still-inhabited house that you can find in every neighborhood. "Los Gigantes" is Boyle in his tall tales mode, a fantasy about a dictator creating an army of giants. On the other end of the scale, you find Riley, the technophobic recipient of "The Marlbane Manchester Musser Award." Life, in all its variety, real and imagined, runs riot here. The Preface, given that it is written by Boyle, is of a piece with the rest of what you find; funny, insightful, thought-provoking and slightly odd.
'T. C. Boyle Stories II' is not a book to be read from cover to cover. Boyle's aficionados are advised to give even the new work a measured reading, while novices should feel free to start anywhere. At one story per week, you have more than a year's worth of reading, which is an outstanding bargain. There's a lot of great reading in here. For those who prefer to listen rather than read, the new stories are available on their own as an audiobook. As a book lover, I'd be happy to see someone like Subterranean Press take a shot at a limited edition of the new work. That said, the only reasonable conclusion is that 'T. C. Boyle Stories II' is an all-around winner for anyone fortunate enough to find it close to hand, and well worth any effort to make that happen.
New to the Agony Column
09-18-15: Commentary : William T. Vollman Amidst 'The Dying Grass' : An Epic Exploration of Simultaneity
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William T. Vollman : "...a lot of long words that in our language are sentences..."
09-05-15: Commentary : Susan Casey Listens to 'Voices in the Ocean' : Science, Empathy and Self
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Susan Casey : "...the reporting for this book was emotionally difficult at times..."
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
