Russell Banks has been publishing innovative fiction for more than twenty-five years, gaining praise from critics for his short stories and novels. Although he is primarily a realist, he has experimented with some postmodern techniques and has confronted the reader with unconventional points of view. Banks has stated that voice is a particularly vital part of his storytelling and can help or destroy the effectiveness of the tone and mood of the piece. His short stories work out in brief form the ideas that dominate his novels: the insidious effects of alcoholism, the tenuous relationship of father and son, the changing patterns of community life, and the original sin of racism that affects Americans in their ways of perceiving themselves in a rapidly changing world. His settings range from New England to Florida, Haiti, and Jamaica; however, he is most evocative when he uses the places in which...