A Permanent Member of the Family

My goal is to read 100 books by the end of 2013.  I just finished book 99.

A Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks

Summary:
A collection of 12 short stories.

My Opinion:
The author has a very quiet poetic way of writing.  Each story was more about human behavior and emotions than big climatic events; I enjoyed it but it's not a writing style for everyone.  As with most short story collections, there was some unevenness but definitely more "hits" than "misses".
I had not read the author before but would definitely read another one of his books.

My Favorite Story:
"A Permanent Member of the Family" (the title story), although "Former Marine" was a very close second.