This collection of threes shorts is a work of emotional and intellectual heft, solidifying Banks as one of my favorite authors. He has a profound influence on my own journey as an author despite discovering him late.
What makes “American Spirits” exceptional is Banks’ refusal to lean on stereotypes or easy characterizations. His characters are not caricatures of rural America, nor are they reduced to simplistic archetypes of struggle or redemption. Instead, Banks dismantles preconceived notions, presenting individuals who are complex, flawed, and achingly human. In the three stories discussed here, Banks explores themes of loss, identity, and the collision of personal and societal forces, all while peeling back the layers of American mythology to reveal the messy truths beneath. There are no heroes.
At the same time, Banks’ ability to capture the human condition with honesty and compassion is unmatched, and his commitment to dismantling stereotypes ensures that his characters feel like people we might know, or even be. In every case, he sets us up to expect something but then delivers something different, perhaps challenging our own stereotypes in the process.
From one of America's most celebrated storytellers come three dark, interlocking tales about the residents of a rural New York town, and the shocking headlines that become their local mythologies.
A husband sells property to a mysterious, temperamental stranger, and is hounded on social media when he publicly questions the man's character. A couple grow concerned when an enigmatic family move next door, and the children start sneaking over to beg for help. Two dangerous criminals kidnap an elderly couple and begin blackmailing their grandson, demanding that he pay back what he owes them.
Suspenseful, thrilling, and expertly crafted, American…
The bleak opening chapters of police brutality will make anyone uncomfortable, especially those of us who have been unfairly accused or treated at one time or another. In this case, the illustration is extreme, so one feels it as if it is an alien planet where the novel takes place and not merely an alternative reality where it takes place.
Even so, there is no question Wright borrows from his own experiences of being falsely accused in painting a vivid portrait of race and injustice as well as his grandmother's world view as a Seventh-day Adventist. In Wright's reflective essay about his grandmother (which was included in the version of the book I read), Wright describes her as a woman “in this world but not of it." It was her religious fervor creating a psychological withdrawal from reality that fascinated and repelled him.
This novel is a masterclass in concise storytelling and provides some profound insights about truth, justice, and humanity. It's the kind of book, in fact, that, despite how uncomfortable it can make you feel at times, deserves a second or third read.
New York Times Bestseller • One of the Best Books of the Year by Time magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, and Esquire, and one of Oprah’s 15 Favorite Books of the Year
From the legendary author of Native Son and Black Boy, the novel he was unable to publish during his lifetime—an explosive story of racism, injustice, brutality, and survival. "Not just Wright's masterwork, but also a milestone in African American literature . . . One of those indispensable works that reminds all its readers that, whether we are in the flow of life or somehow separated from…
Despite surface readings that claim it is about masculinity, it's really a portrait of a man trapped in everydayness. István's simple, straightforward path veers upward toward success and then toward quiet tragedy.
Everyone else in the novel, and I mean everybody, writes his story. Without these outside narrators telling him what to do, István could barely be classified as human. He is so caught up in the everydayness of being, he trods along in a clipped, nonjudgmental prose that mirrors his emotional flatness. As a result, its impossible to like him, given that he gives readers nothing to hope for or any reason to root for him. The best we can do is feel pity. Yet, the story is strangely compelling, even hypnotic, even if its deliberateness won't suit many readers.
In a late confession, he admits as much, saying that Helen, the Englishwoman he marries after a fleeting affair, was "the most important person" in his life. These words crystallize the void: he has no core identity, only borrowed fragments that expand his world briefly before collapsing into the insulation that bore him in the first few pages. It's opposite of any character I might like, and somehow, I still find myself thinking about the absence it contained. It is a perfect expansion and contraction, attuned to the undercurrents of being ordinary.
Finalist for the Kirkus Prize | Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence
From “the shrewdest writer on contemporary masculinity we have” (Esquire), a “captivating...hypnotic...virtuosic” (The Baffler) novel about a man whose life veers off course due to a series of unforeseen circumstances.
Teenaged István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. Shy and new in town, he is a stranger to the social rituals practiced by his classmates and is soon isolated, drawn instead into a series of events that leave him forever a stranger to peers, his mother,…
In Augusta, Maine, a historic nor’easter threatens to unearth secrets buried deep in the town’s past. With time running out, three lives collide in a desperate fight for survival, where truth becomes a casualty and redemption carries a cost.
Billy Stevens, a quarry worker haunted by loss, is drawn into a web of betrayal when a brutal crime pins him as a suspect. Jessica Michaud returns to care for her ailing mother, only to find herself hunted by a vengeful ex whose chilling threats awaken old wounds. And journalist Andrea Kearney digs into a local dynasty’s corruption as the storm’s fury mirrors the rising tide of violence.
Award-winning author Richard R. Becker delivers a gritty literary thriller that digs into identity, perception, and the human condition. Born On Monday is a gripping tale of resilience, moral ambiguity, and small-town sins — a literary thriller that will keep readers breathless until its haunting conclusion.
