3.5
American Spirits
ByPublisher Description
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 grows concerned when an enigmatic family moves 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.
Suspenseful, thrilling, and expertly crafted, American Spirits explores the hostile undercurrents of our communities and American politics at large, as well as the ways local tragedies can be both devastating and, somehow, everyday. Ushering the reader through the town of Sam Dent, Russell Banks has etched yet another brilliant entry into the bedrock of American fiction.
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 grows concerned when an enigmatic family moves 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.
Suspenseful, thrilling, and expertly crafted, American Spirits explores the hostile undercurrents of our communities and American politics at large, as well as the ways local tragedies can be both devastating and, somehow, everyday. Ushering the reader through the town of Sam Dent, Russell Banks has etched yet another brilliant entry into the bedrock of American fiction.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesAmerican Spirits Reviews
3.5
“American Spirits was an unexpected and powerful read. I’m not sure what initially drew me to it, but I’m very glad I picked it up.
The book weaves together three loosely connected stories set in the small town of Sam Dent. Russell Banks explores lives marked by slow-burning tragedy—sometimes directly, sometimes by association. Each story is compelling in its own right, but the first one was particularly haunting for me. I found myself wondering if these narratives were “ripped from the headlines,” especially the second story, which clearly draws from the real-life Broken Harts case.
Banks also threads in themes of Trumpism, examining how deeply this ideology has rooted itself in American life. The characters are all, in one way or another, shaped—or shattered—by their connection to those beliefs. What struck me most was how subtly and powerfully Banks illustrates the cost of these ideologies, not just politically, but personally and morally.
A chilling, quietly devastating read that lingers long after the last page.”
About Russell Banks
RUSSELL BANKS, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, was one of America’s most prestigious fiction writers, a past president of the International Parliament of Writers, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been translated into twenty languages and received numerous prizes and awards. He died in 2023.
Other books by Russell Banks
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