The stories in Russell Banks' new short-story collection, American Spirits, feel like the most erudite guy at the bar telling you a story he'd heard from a different guy at the bar the other night. Which makes sense considering Banks, who died in 2023, based these stories off gossip he heard living part-time in Keene, New York.
"He used to go down to the local roadhouse and drink beer and watch games with the local guys," says Banks' widow, Chase Twichell, who is a poet. "And people would tell their secrets and their stories to him."
