A Robber in the House

Coffee-To-Go Short-Short Stories Series

by Jessica Treat

Treat's fiction debut bristles with sudden surprises and sharp splinters. Her stories become tiny slivers of disturbing lives that wedge in the reader's mind. "A real find."-- Los Angeles Reader ¶ "[Treat] builds suspense and tension word by word while holding the reader captive in a nightmarish drama."-- Minneapolis Star Tribune

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

My three short story collections: A Robber in the House, Not a Chance and Meat Eaters & Plant Eaters, published in 1993, 2001 and 2009, are available from Coffee House Press, FC2, and BOA Editions, respectively. Currently I'm working on new fiction and on translating poetry and fiction from Spanish. I was born in Canada but grew up in New England with a year in Spain. During the 80's I lived in Mexico City, then in Brooklyn for five years after that; at present I live in a small town in Berkshires (Mass). I'm interested in language, culture, art, politics, and the natural world.

[Manhattan Bridge seen from an armory in Brooklyn: Manfred Greuner (c)2008]

Reviews

[Dave Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a certain feverish desperation experienced by the characters in these stories. It's as if they've been abandoned in a foreign country the customs and geography of which they can't quite get a grasp on. There's the woman in "There's A War On" who feels pursued by a man she always sees in a cafe. She feels the waiters are also conspiring with the man, but to do what? Or the man in "Zamora" who wakes up on a train and almost misses his stop. Once off the train he realizes that he has no way of knowing if this is really his stop.
Stylistically, however, the prose seems to be at a 180 to this feverish feeling. It is very direct and precise, not anguished or tortured. It is through the accumulation of baffling small details that the effect is achieved. In "Zamora," for instance, it is hot and the man is wearing a suit. There are no street signs. A plane goes by overhead and he waves automatically. The houses are made of white plaster.
Rather than orient things, the details only add mystery. It takes a writer of considerable skill to pull that sort of thing off. I look forward to Jessica's next collection.

[tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I read Jessica Treat's piece "Little Bitches", I've been itching to get my hands on her printed work. I finally ordered "A Robber in the House" as part of my birthday haul and I wasn't disappointed.

It's a book full of snatches of people's lives. Of relationships, but also, not of relationships - the negative space between one person and another. But it's also of places, situations, space, moments. The absence of people, even when characters are involved.

I often wondered where Treat's inspiration came from. In "The Onion", for example, you can almost see Jessica Treat standing at her kitchen bench one day, a knife in her hand, the onion on the chopping board - and then sitting down to type out a manipulation of the event. Add a food-sensitive husband, a vacant wife. Voila, an odd string of moments that only a gifted writer couid make work. Simplicity that verges on the surreal on occasion and it's this surrealism combined with the simplicity, that makes it extraordinary. And she manages to do this without staining it with the affected hipster vibe of say, someone like Miranda July.

I found some of the stories profound, some merely curious and some downright unsettling ("In the Bar Cafe", "His Wife", various ones about plants or mushrooms that take on lives of their own). Some are rather surreal, "Zamore" striking up Dali-esque mental imagery in my mind. The best thing is, every story will affect every reader in a different way. Pages that affected me, that made me feel at unease - may warm your heart. Ones that I hated, you may love. Ones that I related to, may confuse you.

I can't really explain the book and do it justice, I think you'd have to try it for yourself. Sometimes I loved it, sometimes I didn't, but overall Treat's stories were so original and her voice so unique, that I couldn't help but enjoy it.

And I think you'd only understand what I meant by my rather vague review if you read this book yourself.

[Pesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

i tried to be as objective as i could while reading this. it came from my friend, and she also happened to be its author. so i kept telling myself i was probably going to be baised. so every time i finished a story and went 'wow!, i went back to it, just to see i was not looking through my "friendship lenses",but rather i was being an objective critic. i finished it yesterday,and i still feel like something elating--kind of refreshing--happened to me.

Jessica, glad i met you!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful short (sometimes extremely short) stories that say so much. That's when you know a good writer, when they can tell a complete story in a page or two. These stories make you stop and really think about them...you don't just turn the page to the next one; you think, you wonder, you want to add more or know more. I recommend this little book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the art of "short" short stories, and I do believe it is an art. I used to subscribe to Story magazine, and from time to time they had short short story competitions. Jessica's book has many fine examples.

Two of my favorite longer stories were "Shoes" and "A Robber in the House." My favorite short short stories were "Piano", "Passenger", and "Session".

Another fine collection! I look forward to the next one.

[Mad Dog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting blend of the everyday and the surreal. Definitely worth a read for those who like stories told from an alienated and 'things aren't going to work out' perspective. About half of these short stories (many are more like 'micro stories' that are less than a page long) connected/entertained me. The stories that I liked the least were generally the ones that were really really short and/or the relationship stories. I generally liked the stories set in foreign rural settings, especially the more surreal ones.

I especially liked the surreal(I got to quit using this word) story 'Zamora': about the guy who gets off the train to his destination town but soon realizes he doesn't know where to find his meeting. Hey, I 'dream dreams' like that! And I really liked the story about the mother (and her children) who couldn't find (or did she?) the mysterious small village in Spain where the women carry water vases on their head.

[Chris Herdt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of very short stories, usually a page or 2. Perfect for reading over a morning cup of coffee before work, while waiting for the bus, or wherever you find yourself with some time to kill.

[Lisa Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short-short stories really pack a punch. Sometimes disturbing, always mesmerizing, they are a distillation of what short stories can (should?) be.

[Books Ring Mah Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5!!

[Sterling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting material. No names, no faces. Sometimes it felt like dreams that ran into other dreams and she was trying to make sense of it all.

I'm glad she didn't bother and just dictated.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whaddya think? The author would give less than 5 stars? Think again!