Order of Book Series
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Russell Banks Books in Order

25 books are credited to Russell Banks, published between 1974 and 2024; 1 of them appeared after Russell Banks's death in 2023. The first book is Snow (1974) and the newest is American Spirits (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
25
Published
1974–2024
Pages on record
6,225 in 21 of 25 books
Reading time
104–156 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,225 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 21 of 25 titles with a page count on record.

See all 25 books in order Printable Russell Banks checklist
Photo of Russell Banks, author

Russell Earl Banks (March 28, 1940 - January 8, 2023) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet. Banks's novels portray domestic conflict and the everyday hardships of ordinary, frequently marginalised people, often through moral themes and personal relationships. Banks drew on a working-class childhood and on years spent in Jamaica. Banks belonged to the International Parliament of Writers and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The catalogue holds 25 books, from Snow (1974) to American Spirits (2024), including Trailerpark (1981), Continental Drift (1985) and The Book of Jamaica (1986).

How many Russell Banks books are there?

Russell Banks has 25 books, released between 1974 and 2024. 1 of them were published after Russell Banks's death in 2023.

Russell Banks Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 25 Russell Banks books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Searching for Survivors by Russell Banks (1975)
  2. Cover of The New World by Russell Banks (1979)
  3. Cover of Trailerpark by Russell Banks (1981)
  4. Cover of Relation of My Imprisonment by Russell Banks (1983)
  5. Cover of Continental Drift by Russell Banks (1985)
  6. Cover of Family Life by Russell Banks (1985)
  7. Cover of Success Stories by Russell Banks (1986)
  8. Cover of Hamilton Stark by Russell Banks (1986)
  9. Cover of The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks (1991)
  10. Cover of Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks (1995)
  11. Cover of Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks (1998)
  12. Cover of The Angel on the Roof by Russell Banks (1999)
  13. Cover of The Darling by Russell Banks (2004)
  14. Cover of Dreaming Up America by Russell Banks (2008)
  15. Cover of The Reserve by Russell Banks (2008)
  16. Cover of Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks (2011)
  17. Cover of A Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks (2013)
  18. Cover of Foregone by Russell Banks (2021)
  19. Cover of The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks (2022)
  1. 1
    Snow1974 · 21 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197421
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Searching for Survivors1975 · 153 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1975153
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The New World1979 · 144 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979144
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Trailerpark1981 · 271 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981271
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Relation of My Imprisonment1983 · 120 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1983120
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Continental Drift1985 · 448 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Family Life1985 · 117 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985117
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Success Stories1986 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1986192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Book of Jamaica1986 · confirmed 2/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Hamilton Stark1986 · 308 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1986308
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Affliction1989 · 355 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1989355
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Sweet Hereafter1991 · 257 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991257
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Rule of the Bone1995 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Cloudsplitter1998 · 768 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998768
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Angel on the Roof1999 · 528 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999528
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Darling2004 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Dreaming Up America2008 · 127 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008127
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Reserve2008 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Lost Memory of Skin2011 · 416 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2011416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    A Permanent Member of the Family2013 · 228 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2013228
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Voyager2016 · confirmed 2/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Foregone2021 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2021320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 24
    The Magic Kingdom2022 · 332 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2022332
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 25
    American Spirits2024 · confirmed 2/4
    2024–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Russell Banks books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Art of the Story in order

1 book
  1. 17. The Hurly Burly and Other Stories

Standalone books

24 books

24 Russell Banks titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Russell Banks books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 25 Russell Banks books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Russell Banks

Start with Snow (1974), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Russell Banks book?

American Spirits (2024) is the newest Russell Banks book released so far.

Is there a new Russell Banks book coming?

No next Russell Banks book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Russell Banks has won

Wikidata records 3 awards for Russell Banks. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Prix Laure Bataillon2006Won
  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards1999Won
  • American Book Awards1982Won

Russell Banks at a glance

Died
Russell Banks died in 2023, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Russell Banks are still being published after Russell Banks's death in 2023; the newest appeared in 2024.
Release pace
Russell Banks books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
6,225 pages across the 21 of 25 books with a recorded length, a median of 308 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Russell Banks books, 8 of 25, were published in the 1980s.

What the Russell Banks books are about

22 of the 25 Russell Banks books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: americans is tagged on 3 of 22. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.