Russell Banks Reading Order

10 books (1989–2015)

This is a collection of ten anthologies edited by Russell Banks, published between 1989 and 2015. The series is now complete and should be read in publication order. These volumes span literary journals, short fiction collections, and thematic anthologies covering mystery, creative nonfiction, and writing craft.

Start with Brushes With Greatness: An Anthology of Chance Encounters With Greatness, the first of 10 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Brushes With Greatness: An Anthology of Chance Encounters With Greatness 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Ploughshares Winter 1993-94 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Prize Stories 2000: The O. Henry Awards 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Best American Mystery Stories 2001 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Writers on Writing 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Brick: A Literary Journal, 70 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Best American Mystery Stories 2014 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Afflict the Comfortable 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

19 books (1852–2022)

The Art of the Story is a 19-book anthology series curated by Russell Banks, spanning from 1852 to 2022. This non-fiction collection gathers short story works from classic and contemporary authors including Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, Katherine Mansfield, Joyce Carol Oates, and many others. The series appears to be complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with Turgenev's A Sportsman's Notebook. Each volume showcases significant short fiction that represents different periods and styles of the form.

Start with A Sportsman's Notebook(By: Ivan Turgenev), the first of 19 books in the Art of the Story series.

#	Title
1	A Sportsman's Notebook(By: Ivan Turgenev) 1852Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The General Zapped an Angel(By: Howard Fast) 1970Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	In the Garden of the North American Martyrs(By: Tobias Wolff) 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Essential Tales of Chekhov(By: Anton Chekhov) 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Garden Party and Other Stories(By: Katherine Mansfield) 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Continent(By: Jim Crace) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Wild Nights!(By: Joyce Carol Oates) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Tunneling to the Center of the Earth(By: Kevin Wilson) 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Monstress(By: Lysley Tenorio) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Mr. and Mrs. Baby(By: Mark Strand) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Essential Tales Of Chekhov Deluxe Edition(By: Anton Chekhov) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Vanishing Princess(By: Jenny Diski) 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Catastrophe and Other Stories(By: Dino Buzzati) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls(By: Alissa Nutting) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	We Are Taking Only What We Need(By: Stephanie Powell Watts) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry(By: Elizabeth McCracken) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Hue and Cry(By: Edward P. Jones,James McPherson) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Hurly Burly and Other Stories(With: A.E. Coppard) 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Loss of Memory Is Only Temporary(By: Francine Prose,Johanna Kaplan) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (1975–2013)

Russell Banks's Collections series comprises five essay and short story collections published between 1975 and 2013, completing with A Permanent Member of the Family. These works should be read in publication order, beginning with Searching for Survivors, to follow the author's evolving perspective and style across nearly four decades. The series includes The New World, Success Stories, and The Angel on the Roof as intermediate entries in this retrospective of Banks's non-fiction writing.

Start with Searching for Survivors, the first of 5 books in the Collections series.

#	Title
1	Searching for Survivors 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The New World 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Success Stories 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Angel on the Roof 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	A Permanent Member of the Family 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (2008–2016)

Russell Banks has written two non-fiction works that should be read in their publication order. Dreaming Up America appeared first in 2008, followed by Voyager in 2016. This complete two-book series offers Banks's reflections and essays across an eight-year span, presenting his distinctive perspective on American culture and experience.

Start with Dreaming Up America and read in order.

#	Title
1	Dreaming Up America 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Voyager 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

17 books (1974–2024)

Russell Banks has published 17 standalone novels from 1974 to 2024, with the series remaining ongoing. These works should be read in publication order, beginning with Snow and continuing through his most recent releases. Banks's novels, while independent stories, collectively showcase his distinctive literary voice across five decades of American fiction writing.

Start with Snow, the first of 17 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	Snow 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Trailerpark 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Relation of My Imprisonment 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Continental Drift 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Family Life 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Hamilton Stark 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Book of Jamaica 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Affliction 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Sweet Hereafter 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Rule of the Bone 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Cloudsplitter 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Darling 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Reserve 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Lost Memory of Skin 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Foregone 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Magic Kingdom 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	American Spirits 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible