Family Terrorists

by Antonya Nelson, Melanie Wertelet (Designed by)

Seven stories and a novella by the award-winning writer of The Expendables explore the heart of contemporary life and the ties of love, faith, anxiety, and antagonism that bind families together. Reprint. 12,000 first printing.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Antonya Nelson is the author of nine books of fiction, including Nothing Right and the novels Talking in Bed, Nobody’s Girl, and Living to Tell. Nelson’s work has appeared in the New Yorker, Esquire, Harper’s, Redbook, and many other magazines, as well as in anthologies such as Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards and The Best American Short Stories. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEA Grant, the Rea Award for the Short Story, and, recently, the United States Artists Simon Fellowship. She is married to the writer Robert Boswell and lives in New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, where she holds the Cullen Chair in Creative Writing at the University of Houston.

Reviews

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often uncomfortably authentic & well crafted. Not as creative in premise as her other collection, "The Expendables," but more relatable.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure i know how to explain it, but Antonya gives you her money's worth with each paragraph. With her, you are never regulated to one point of view or idea. "'I'm going to tell you something your mother doesn't know,' her father said. Edie was fifteen. She didn't want to hear such things.." That's the first line from the book, and you already know something weird about the dad, and you are wondering what could he hide from his wife but share with his daughter. What's going on. Why is Edie so wary. They're in the car and they are on the way to a very uncomfotable experience...
That's Antonya at her best. I mean the first story "Loaded Gun" is far from her best work, but her writing is so inviting that you know you are in for something deep and wide. Here the story concentrates on the antics and adventures of Edie's wild cousin Tara. In doing so, Antonya reveals a dark side to every family - only in the way she does it, you soon realize that the shadows can loom large. In "Loaded Gun," We learn as much about the flaws in the rest of the family as we do Tara.
I probably like "Naked Ladies" the best. Here Laura's family is more cohesive, but equally as secretive. A get-together with the neighbors has all the trappings of suburban family life - I suppose that is the first clue that something bad is broiling underneath. Laura is a writer in waiting. She has an acute eye for detail: "She often lay awake at night replaying the day, hearing again and again word that might have been meant, or taken, unkindly, biting her nails until she could go no further down." At this party, she pays special attention to the quirks and characteristics of her mother, the man of the house and the curious absence of her own father. When Antonya brings Laura together with a collection of Naked Ladies paintings, the imagination really begins to flow.
That's my point. There is nothing simple about any scene. There is nothing one-dimensional or obvious. With Antonya Nelson, family life is turned inside out. She creates these abstract paintings of complicated moments and calls them short stories.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is creepy because it is real. It doesn't paint some magical picture of what family relationships are like. A book of short stories and one novella, it can be at times depressing, but is always on mark with the sometimes twisted nature that families take on. I especially loved the novella, called Family Terrorists, and could even identify my own family in its characters. I'm sure everyone else could too, to a point, as humans are really all connected and similar more than they sometimes may like to admit.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novella & 7 short stories. One of the depictions of 'the elephant in the living room' that I have ever read. The author picks up on all those little nuances present in a typical dysfunctional family that most people won't talk about.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novella & 7 short stories. One of the depictions of 'the elephant in the living room' that I have ever read. The author picks up on all those little nuances present in a typical dysfunctional family that most people won't talk about.

[Avital]

Jeff's recommendation (+The land of Men)

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some perfect stories mixed with some not so great ones.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't so into this at first but it grew on me. Interesting dissection of family dynamics by the grown-up "baby" of the family. Not too sentimental.

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of Antonya Nelson's stories--and I mostly really, really like her stories!

[Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the pieces in this collection aren't as compelling as other AN stories.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The vast secrets of family simmer here. Funny? Boom. Big-family accurate? Boom. Terrifying in it's accuracy? Hell yes. Do yourself a favor: READ.