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Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood
Bradley Sides merges the South with the weird in his latest collection of magical realism short stories, Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood. Here, a boy creates a guide to his beloved pond monster, a parent weighs the consequences of the coming apocalypse, a man protects a jar of delicate moths, a test taker fearlessly faces death, a young woman rejects ownership of her vampire family’s farm, a father leaves a letter for his ghost daughter, and a flood of broken robots sparks pure joy. Full of grief, loss, and, somehow, even hope, Sides’ fantastic stories boldly and tenderly explore the complexities of humanity.“Bradley Sides’ new collection is a traveling carnival filled with pond monsters, vampire girls, fire-breathing children, and minor apocalypses. It’s also a collection of good-hearted people trying to make their way through unstable worlds of wonder and joy—in other words, the stories of our lives.” —Alexander Weinstein, author of Universal Love“Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood is a wildly entertaining ride. I loved reading about monsters, a vampire who doesn’t want to take over the family garlic farm, ghost children, the apocalypse, and a prehistoric bird-sister in stories that are hilarious, unsettling, tender, and wise. This terrific collection reveals not only Bradley Sides’ impressive range as a writer but also the strange and wondrous shapes love can take.” —Becky Hagenston, author of The Age of Discovery and Other Stories“In his latest collection, Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood, Bradley Sides’ literary imagination is extraordinary. Monsters and moths. Vampires and dragons. Holograms and ghosts. Sides gives the reader all of this and more. But this book is not just an imaginative feat, through its otherworldly lenses we see clearly what it means to be heartbreakingly and beautifully human. These stories are remarkable.” —Andrew Siegrist, author of We Imagined It Was Rain“With his second story collection, Bradley Sides poignantly illustrates the divide between myth and magic, between monsters and men. Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood invites readers to bear witness to the melancholic yet brilliant transformation of characters who long for family—those broken and found, who sway upon the precipice of faith and unbelief, who ache in the absence of children and parents. In a time when asking, begging, and praying for miracles isn’t enough, Sides has gifted us a book full of them.” —Nathan Elias, author of The Reincarnations and Coil Quake Rift
142 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2024
About the author
Bradley Sides
3 books19 followersBradley Sides is the author of two previous short story collections, Those Fantastic Lives and Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood, a 2024 Book of the Year finalist at Southern Literary Review. His writing appears at Chapter 16, Electric Literature, LeVar Burton Reads, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, The Rumpus, and Southern Review of Books, where he also serves as the host of “The Southern Summer Book Club.” He lives in Madison, Alabama, with his wife, and, on most days, he can be found teaching writing and literature at Calhoun Community College. His latest book is The Volcano Keeper.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 29, 2024
These 17 flash fiction stories fully embrace the possibilities of magic and weirdness, particularly to help us reconnect with the dead. Brad and I are literary acquaintances from our time working on (the now defunct) Bookkaholic web magazine in 2014–15. I liked this even more than his first book, Those Fantastic Lives (2021), although the contours are very similar. Young people, animals and monsters abound – and sometimes the lines between those identities are unclear. There’s a lot of experimentation with form: a choose-your-own-adventure narrative, a police transcript, a two-truths-and-a-lie challenge, a story all in questions, an English exam, and a letter. A few of my favorite stories were “The Guide to King George,” about an amusement farm’s resident pond monster; “Claire & Hank,” in which a paleontologist’s unearthed Pteranodon becomes a sister to his motherless son; and “Dying at Allium Farm,” whose sassy undead owners think they’re fooling their Tennessee customers. And can you imagine a better title and cover combination?!
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
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December 14, 2023I'm the publicist for this one and think it's pretty dang awesome. If you're interested in reviewing, interviewing, or other potential coverage in advance of the release date, please reach out to me here via DM!
May 14, 2024
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT THE $#*! DID I JUST READ?
This is a selection of short—sometimes very short—stories that the publisher describes as "magical realism." Which I guess is fitting—some seem more like SF, Fantasy, or somewhere in-between, than what I think of as "magical realism." But I'm not going to be finicky about the label—call it whatever you want, as long as "strange" fits into the definition. Because "strange" is the best word to describe every story (even if other words would do better for specific entries). And I truly mean that in the best of ways.
The other element element that characterizes these stories is "Southern Fiction." This is incredibly apt—even when a story doesn't mention a locale, or use a colloquialism or slang to show that this is Southern, there's something about them that just screams Southern Fiction. You know it when you see it.
ECONOMY OF WORDS
Other than "strange," "weird," and so on, the word that comes to mind when describing this book is "Economical." How anybody can create a tone/tenor, voice, world, and characters in so few words time and time and time again is beyond my ken.
Sure, there are a handful of apocalypses in this book—but they're distinct. The stories don't feel like they're talking about the same World-Ending Event (and they're not, but you'd halfway expect them to feel similar). The monsters in Story X wouldn't fit into Story Y, and probably wouldn't even be noticed as all that monstrous in Story Z.
Bradley Sides is a skilled and gifted writer and you can see that on pretty much every page.
* I think "every page" would be a better way to put it, but let me understate it just in case there are 1-3 that miss.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT WHATEVER THAT $#*! WAS?
The question that I started this post with is something I put in my notes more than once. And with maybe one exception, I followed it with "But I'm glad I read it."
So, the collection started roughly for me—I liked the writing, but the story did nothing for me, but the second? "The Guide To King George" knocked my socks off. Most of the rest did, too. The titular story seemed like a miss to me, too (but what a great title).
Some of these made me laugh and/or chuckle—like the story of the young vampire girl who is desperate to leave her family farm, or the Choose Your Own Adventure story about a Father and Son during an apocalypse—but I stopped chuckling soon and shifted into something else. The setup to "Nancy R. Melson's State ELA Exam, Section 1: The Dead-Dead Monster" was delightful, even if I felt guilty for being delighted by the end.
Then there are the sobering stories, the heart-wrenching stories. So many captivating, unnerving, and something-in-the-neighborhood of hopeful ways to look at death.
I really can't explain this collection, as I think I've demonstrated pretty well here. I'm sure others can, and you should look for their comments. But I'll tell you this, you're not going to find many collections that are as pound-for-pound good as this one. Even when the story doesn't quite strike you as successful or entertaining as the rest, you're not going to forget it soon, or regret the experience.
Go grab a copy.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author and Lori Hettler of The Next Best Book Club in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.
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WHAT THE $#*! DID I JUST READ?
This is a selection of short—sometimes very short—stories that the publisher describes as "magical realism." Which I guess is fitting—some seem more like SF, Fantasy, or somewhere in-between, than what I think of as "magical realism." But I'm not going to be finicky about the label—call it whatever you want, as long as "strange" fits into the definition. Because "strange" is the best word to describe every story (even if other words would do better for specific entries). And I truly mean that in the best of ways.
The other element element that characterizes these stories is "Southern Fiction." This is incredibly apt—even when a story doesn't mention a locale, or use a colloquialism or slang to show that this is Southern, there's something about them that just screams Southern Fiction. You know it when you see it.
ECONOMY OF WORDS
Other than "strange," "weird," and so on, the word that comes to mind when describing this book is "Economical." How anybody can create a tone/tenor, voice, world, and characters in so few words time and time and time again is beyond my ken.
Sure, there are a handful of apocalypses in this book—but they're distinct. The stories don't feel like they're talking about the same World-Ending Event (and they're not, but you'd halfway expect them to feel similar). The monsters in Story X wouldn't fit into Story Y, and probably wouldn't even be noticed as all that monstrous in Story Z.
Bradley Sides is a skilled and gifted writer and you can see that on pretty much every page.
* I think "every page" would be a better way to put it, but let me understate it just in case there are 1-3 that miss.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT WHATEVER THAT $#*! WAS?
The question that I started this post with is something I put in my notes more than once. And with maybe one exception, I followed it with "But I'm glad I read it."
So, the collection started roughly for me—I liked the writing, but the story did nothing for me, but the second? "The Guide To King George" knocked my socks off. Most of the rest did, too. The titular story seemed like a miss to me, too (but what a great title).
Some of these made me laugh and/or chuckle—like the story of the young vampire girl who is desperate to leave her family farm, or the Choose Your Own Adventure story about a Father and Son during an apocalypse—but I stopped chuckling soon and shifted into something else. The setup to "Nancy R. Melson's State ELA Exam, Section 1: The Dead-Dead Monster" was delightful, even if I felt guilty for being delighted by the end.
Then there are the sobering stories, the heart-wrenching stories. So many captivating, unnerving, and something-in-the-neighborhood of hopeful ways to look at death.
I really can't explain this collection, as I think I've demonstrated pretty well here. I'm sure others can, and you should look for their comments. But I'll tell you this, you're not going to find many collections that are as pound-for-pound good as this one. Even when the story doesn't quite strike you as successful or entertaining as the rest, you're not going to forget it soon, or regret the experience.
Go grab a copy.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author and Lori Hettler of The Next Best Book Club in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.
July 2, 2024
“Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood” by Bradley Sides
In this short story collection, Bradley Sides has crafted a carnival of melancholy oddities. A boy with a much loved monster in his backyard pond. A vampire who wants to leave the family garlic farm. A boy praying for snow. A man protecting his family from apocalypse in unusual consequences. Each short story, most of them technically flash fiction, aims to give voice to human longing through the lens of magical realism, of the weird and absurd.
To be honest, I wanted to like this collection more than I did. I did enjoy quite a few of the stories, such as “Our Patches,” “Festival of Kites,” “2 Truths & A Lie About the Monsters Atop Our Hill,” “Claire & Hank,” and “From 1973.” But for me, my enjoyment was surface level, a tickle of engagement as opposed to the immersion. I think this is because Sides tends to lean toward direct narration in the stories, directing the story directly at the reader in various forms (such as instructions for caring for a pond monster or a quiz on a questionably diabolical monster). The focus is on what was said as opposed to what is seen. Additionally, the brevity of Sides’s stories, some of them exceedingly short, means I felt like there wasn’t time to build an experience the way I like in my magical realism stories. Anyone who has followed me for a while knows that for me the pinnacle of short story writing is Karen Russell and it is her immersive worldbuilding that captures me; Sides simply doesn’t do that.
This does NOT mean, however, that this is a subpar short story collection. I do think it’s astounding what Sides is able to do in terms of displaying the depth and variety of how humans can long, can yearn, can want for something more. There are some clever premises here as well, often with a wry twist (a family of vampires owning an organic garlic farm is a stroke of ridiculousness to the point of genius, in my opinion). For me, “Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood” is a simple case quality against preference. Did I enjoy reading this? Mildly, but to be honest it just wasn’t the writing style I find most satisfying in short fiction. Is this a good collection? Yes, arguably even a great one! There are some really incredible pieces here and, if you are a fan of flash fiction, I can definitely recommend this book.
In this short story collection, Bradley Sides has crafted a carnival of melancholy oddities. A boy with a much loved monster in his backyard pond. A vampire who wants to leave the family garlic farm. A boy praying for snow. A man protecting his family from apocalypse in unusual consequences. Each short story, most of them technically flash fiction, aims to give voice to human longing through the lens of magical realism, of the weird and absurd.
To be honest, I wanted to like this collection more than I did. I did enjoy quite a few of the stories, such as “Our Patches,” “Festival of Kites,” “2 Truths & A Lie About the Monsters Atop Our Hill,” “Claire & Hank,” and “From 1973.” But for me, my enjoyment was surface level, a tickle of engagement as opposed to the immersion. I think this is because Sides tends to lean toward direct narration in the stories, directing the story directly at the reader in various forms (such as instructions for caring for a pond monster or a quiz on a questionably diabolical monster). The focus is on what was said as opposed to what is seen. Additionally, the brevity of Sides’s stories, some of them exceedingly short, means I felt like there wasn’t time to build an experience the way I like in my magical realism stories. Anyone who has followed me for a while knows that for me the pinnacle of short story writing is Karen Russell and it is her immersive worldbuilding that captures me; Sides simply doesn’t do that.
This does NOT mean, however, that this is a subpar short story collection. I do think it’s astounding what Sides is able to do in terms of displaying the depth and variety of how humans can long, can yearn, can want for something more. There are some clever premises here as well, often with a wry twist (a family of vampires owning an organic garlic farm is a stroke of ridiculousness to the point of genius, in my opinion). For me, “Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood” is a simple case quality against preference. Did I enjoy reading this? Mildly, but to be honest it just wasn’t the writing style I find most satisfying in short fiction. Is this a good collection? Yes, arguably even a great one! There are some really incredible pieces here and, if you are a fan of flash fiction, I can definitely recommend this book.
April 5, 2024
Full of magical realism, this collection of short stories takes ordinary events and transforms them. Pond monsters, vampires, an incoming apocalypse, ghost children, and broken robots populate the stories, but not everything about them involves the paranormal or fantastic.
The collection opens with "Raising Again," with a young girl and her dog surviving an apocalyptic flood. Even the stars are falling out of the sky, and the girl collects them. The hope to begin again gives this story a beautiful ending and gives a throughline for the collection. Even the directions to care for a pond monster have hope and love in it, and the survivors of a different apocalypse try to make a testament to their memory for future people. There are many apocalypse stories, actually; likely this is the case because disasters can bring out the best and the worst in people. Those snippets of time are the best fodder for stories.
Short stories give a chance for experimental structure, including choose your own adventure, a transcript, and a testing booklet. I actually really like "To Take, To Leave," which includes a parent's love in the midst of yet another fiery apocalypse. Beginning with "2 Truths & A Lie About The Monsters Atop Our Hill" there is a more melancholy slant to the stories, the hopeful thread woven with sadness as well. "Remembrance Day" will rip the heart out of any parent, as well as the fierce desire to become a parent in the title story, which closes out the collection. The characters are so very human, moving from joy to despair and back again, taking us along for the ride.
The collection opens with "Raising Again," with a young girl and her dog surviving an apocalyptic flood. Even the stars are falling out of the sky, and the girl collects them. The hope to begin again gives this story a beautiful ending and gives a throughline for the collection. Even the directions to care for a pond monster have hope and love in it, and the survivors of a different apocalypse try to make a testament to their memory for future people. There are many apocalypse stories, actually; likely this is the case because disasters can bring out the best and the worst in people. Those snippets of time are the best fodder for stories.
Short stories give a chance for experimental structure, including choose your own adventure, a transcript, and a testing booklet. I actually really like "To Take, To Leave," which includes a parent's love in the midst of yet another fiery apocalypse. Beginning with "2 Truths & A Lie About The Monsters Atop Our Hill" there is a more melancholy slant to the stories, the hopeful thread woven with sadness as well. "Remembrance Day" will rip the heart out of any parent, as well as the fierce desire to become a parent in the title story, which closes out the collection. The characters are so very human, moving from joy to despair and back again, taking us along for the ride.
December 22, 2024
This was one of my first short story collections and I quite enjoyed it. The southern influence was evident and inviting and I would recommend this book to many others. I often find that fantastical short stories take a lot of thought to get through but these were flowing and clear, definitely beach-readable. My favorites would have to be Peach’s Menagerie, Claire & Hank and Nancy R. Melson’s State ELA Exam, Section 1: The Dead-Dead Monster
March 19, 2024
I was at a reading for the author’s new book, and he read ‘Remembrance Day’. That story alone is worth checking out the book. It’s devastating and beautiful. Several people were crying after he read it. ‘The Guide to King George’ and ‘Claire & Hank’ are two other standouts. A home run kind of collection.
March 11, 2024
This collection of short stories was compelling and thought provoking. I loved getting glimpses into several different narratives and wondering what those characters might be up to. Easy read and so engaging!
April 25, 2024
apocalyptic flash fiction stories of monsters and families. not all of these worked for me but i did enjoy the different formats the author worked with!
favorites:
- the guide to king george
- our patches
- festival of kites
- 2 truths and a lie about the monsters atop our hill
favorites:
- the guide to king george
- our patches
- festival of kites
- 2 truths and a lie about the monsters atop our hill
May 17, 2024
“The Guide to King George” is wonderful! It’s the best I’ve read in a long while. “Claire & Hank,” “To Take, To Leave,” “Festival of Kites,” and the story about the Dead-Dead Monster are also very, very good. The stories are written well. I was particularly impressed by how the endings came together in all of the stories. Loved it!
December 13, 2023
I think it’s pretty great. Out in February 2024 from Montag Press.
January 14, 2024
Not quite horror, not quite sci-fi, not exactly paranormal either. But very weird stuff happens in these stories. Extremely entertaining and well done.
March 15, 2024
Short story collection about family and monsters.
Favorites:
2 Truths and a Lie About the Monsters Atop Our Hill
Claire & Hank
Do You Remember
Favorites:
2 Truths and a Lie About the Monsters Atop Our Hill
Claire & Hank
Do You Remember
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June 20, 2024You can read my review of this book on Chapter 16's website here: https://chapter16.org/reality-with-a-...
August 27, 2024
Check out my review on The Horror Tree.
https://horrortree.com/epeolatry-book...
https://horrortree.com/epeolatry-book...
November 18, 2024
Swamp monsters, vampires, apocalyptic cults, holographic memorials—Sides knows how to have a good time.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews