Trailerpark

Written by Russell Banks

Narrated by Kevin Kenerly

""Each story is uncommonly good. . . surprising, lively writing and believably human characters. . . . Banks has a terrific eye, mordant yet affectionate, for the bric-a-brac and the pathos of the American dream."" — Washington Post Book World

In this series of related short stories, acclaimed author Russell Banks offers gripping, realistic portrayals of individual Americans and paints a portrait of New England life that is at once dark, witty, and revealing.

Get to know the colorful cast of characters at the Granite State Trailerpark, where Flora in number 11 keeps more than a hundred guinea pigs and screams at people to stay away from her babies, Claudel in number 5 thinks he is lucky until his wife burns down their trailer and runs off with Howie Leeke, and Noni in number 7 has telephone conversations with Jesus and tells the police about them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9780062955203

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 he received numerous prizes and awards, including the Common Wealth Award for Literature. He died in January 2023 at the age of eighty-two.  

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If I'd never been to New Hampshire before, I'd never go after reading this. Every character has a tragic story, I felt so bad for them as I was reading this. The book opens with a story about a woman who has guinea pigs, think crazy cat lady with way way too many. My absolute favorite story was the last one about a fisherman, another crazy character but at least he's seemed to find some peace admist the madness that surrounds him.

[fullmoonblue · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just posted this review elsewhere on LT, so thought to add it as an actual Review...

I read Trailerpark at the recommendation of a fellow reader & writer. I'd also read Banks' longer work Continental Drift before and liked it a lot, although parts were incredibly dark and difficult to read.

Trailerpark has dark bits too, but also a lighter, more comedic edge. It's organized like a collection of short stories, each of which examines a single resident or family from a semirural - you guessed it - trailer park in New Hampshire. To avoid spoilers, I'll offer just one image: "the Guinea Pig Lady." That's the first story in the collection, and could easily stand alone. Sweet, sad, and utterly bizarre. The story grossed me out and pulled at my heartstrings simultaneously. So if you've never read Banks before, I'd recommend grabbing Trailerpark and reading the first tale, "The Guinea Pig Lady." Worth the price of admission on its own, as they say.

[sandydog1_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A series of depressing character studies of the depressing occupants of a small depressing New Hampshire trailer park. It's well-written and sets a tone of American life, but it's actually not TOO gloomy, it is fiction after all.

[abirdman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A morose and gloomy book holds up well and feels in the end like a great book. The voice of the narrator is fine, classic Banks-- assured, critical, generous, and un-fazed by the harsh facts of the story.