A PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

Who better to narrate these riveting stories by Russell Banks than these three skilled performers? Banks can be startling with his often surprising endings and bleak portraits of people and places, but there's such beauty in this stark realism. Danny Campbell, Andrus Nichols, and Robin Miles are each comfortable with these edgy narratives, and their collective delivery is appropriately grounded in realism. While each narrator has an "everyman" quality to his or her voice, the drama that unfolds in each story transcends the ordinary to inspire thoughtfulness in any listener. Each story deserves more of a pause at its ending before another begins, but this is a minor issue in an outstanding collection. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2013]