Little Stories -- Book Review
Jeff Roberts' Short Stories Are Edgy, Dark and Existential
Jan 18, 2009
Little Stories (Outskirts Press, 2008), Jeff Roberts’ first collection of painful portraits of life heralds the arrival of a new voice in modern American writing. Roberts’ work, edgy and dark, is the voice of urban America, replete with characters who deeply experience the alienation of modern man.
Lonely People, Dark Tales
Cleverly titled, Roberts’ stories are nonetheless heart-rending as they portray lonely people striving for an epiphany of meaning. Lost in their loneliness and misery, they are unaware of life beyond the borders of the darkness that surrounds them. These stories are truly a slice of life, but not the suburban, pastoral life of mindlessly happy, complacent people intent on social mobility and expanding mutual fund accounts. Roberts’ people are lost in the existential quagmire of striving for love, meaning and a reason to be.
While not all of Roberts’ stories reflect modern alienation, most deliver a painful reminder of a misery that even the most content can easily recall. The betrayal in “Relativity” can easily rub salt in old wounds; “Most Likely to Succeed” will stir long forgotten memories. Each story brings a veil of sorrow and the revelation of the disappointment that life can allot, from “Cosette” to “Kisses,” and “A Triptych.” Throughout the stories, the characters, lonely and largely disillusioned, are haunting, reminding one of dark rainy days and cold cafes.
Roberts as an Emerging Writer
Gritty, dark and existential best describe these vignettes of life. Roberts may well be the new voice of the modern man, lost in the city of despair and despondency. Noir best describes the mood in most of the stories. One cannot help but feel that no matter what opportunities present themselves, Roberts' narrator will not escape smoke-filled apartments and dark city streets. Even stories told from a different point of view cannot break away from the dismal landscape of walk-ups and tenements.
It will be interesting to watch Roberts bloom as a writer. He knows his characters and setting, and it will be interesting to see if he can ever redeem them or himself from the underlying sadness that permeates his work. Will he be able to sustain the heaviness of this early work? There is every possibility that Roberts, with time and experience, will emerge as a new Kerouac or Sartre. Roberts is a perfect candidate to pursue the noir novel, a genre for which he seems, at least at this time, well suited.
A new edition of Little Stories is forthcoming in 2009, and will have more stories added to it.
Unfortunately, editorial oversights keep this noteworthy first book from achieving the five star rating it so richly deserves.
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