A Permanent Member of the Family

[Read by Danny Campbell, Andrus Nichols, Robin Miles]Suffused with Banks' trademark lyricism and reckless humor, the twelve stories in A Permanent Member of the Family examine the myriad of ways we try--and sometimes fail--to connect with one another. 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. ''Former Marine'' asks, to chilling effect, if one can ever stop being a parent. And in the haunting, evocative ''Searching for Veronica,'' a mysterious woman looking for her missing daughter may not be who she claims she is. One of our most acute and penetrating authors, Banks' virtuosic writing animates stories that are profoundly humane, darkly funny, and absolutely unforgettable.