Bad Things Happen

by Kris Bertin

The characters in Bad Things Happen —professors, janitors, webcam models, small-time criminals—are between things. Between jobs and marriages, states of sobriety, joy and anguish; between who they are and who they want to be. Kris Bertin's unforgettable debut introduces us to people at the tenuous moment before everything in their lives changes, for better or worse. Kris Bertin 's stories have appeared in the Walrus , the Malahat Review , the New Quarterly , PRISM International , and other magazines. He lives and writes in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canadian Literature

206 pages, Paperback

First published July 13, 2016

About the author

Kris Bertin is a writer of from Halifax, NS. His first book of short stories, BAD THINGS HAPPEN, won the Writers' Union of Canada's 2017 Danuta Gleed Award and the ReLit Award for short fiction. Kris's graphic novel (illustrated by Alexander Forbes) THE CASE OF THE MISSING MEN, published in 2017 by Conundrum Press, was nominated for a Doug Wright Award.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4* of five

My review is live now at The Oak Wheel. This CanLit collection, the first from author Kris Bertin, is worth ordering now before it has to go into a second printing. He's that good.

Biblioasis gets a big thank you for sending me my review copy, and I hope my almost-unqualified rave will be helpful. I want to support presses that find and publish authors of this quality.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about different kinds of guys. Guys on the margins and guys getting by, but just barely. Not always guys you'd want to be friends with but guys you'd want to have seen. The guy from The Narrow Passage is the guy that's going to stick with me the most. I know that guy. Both of those guys, actually, now that I think of it. Richard and Gene. That sort of soul-deadening, menial work that creates its own sort of world around you because you don't want to share what you've learned of it and dealt with outside of actually doing that activity. But that's not the worst of it, it's that family that has it even worse, that's been completely forgotten by society, that they keep running into. That's going to stick with me.

Other highlights: Girl on Fire Escape, Bad Things Happen, Is Alive and Can Move, Everywhere Money

Reminded me of that great line from Charles Portis' The Dog of the South: The kind of people I know now don’t have barbecues, Mama. They stand up alone at nights in small rooms and eat cold weenies. My so-called friends are bums. Many of them are nothing but rats. They spread T.B. and use dirty language. They’re wife-beaters and window peepers and night crawlers and dope fiends. They have running sores on the backs of their hands that never heal. They peer up from cracks in the floor with their small red eyes and wait for chances.

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong collection from a promising writer. Bertin first came to my attention in a literary journal, but can't remember where. In this collection, Bertin tackles a variety of characters and approaches: this writer is definitely not a one trick pony. My favourite was the longest ("The Story Here"), my least favourite was "Narrow Passage" because of typos and the ending which flew over my head no matter how many times I re-read it.

Generally, Bertin is very good with endings. He tends to reach for something bigger at the end, some transcendence, which opens things up as well as closing the story.

Some quibbles with editing and proofing. In the eviction story, the man bit by a spider had a "handset to rot off" and because I am so slow I spent way too long wondered what the "handset" was meant to be. In another story "incase" appears as one word. These may be printer errors.

Talented writers like this always make me a little envious. I'm trying not to be consumed with envy, but it is just not working.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd read most of these stories before in some journal or another over the past few years, and the heft of those is still there, in fact, there's far more weight to them on a second or third read. Bertin has put together this collection over the better part of a decade, and it's more lean and focused and affecting than the work of many of our so-called CanLit greats. If Bertin shares a kinship, or part of his voice with some other excellent writers, like Amy Jones, or Craig Davidson, or Alex MacLeod, it is only because he's gleaned the best lessons from that work and carved out a spot of his own alongside it.

As with many like emerging authors, you will probably see some readers and critics baffled by their inability to neatly classify Bad Things Happen, and the value of it in the Canadian literary landscape. You'll hear a lot about the grit and grime in this book, and the lousy characters, and the influence of Bertin's many shit jobs and real-life experience on the work. Don't be fooled by any of rote attempts to pigeonhole the stories here. They are varied in tone and approach, driven by humour and a "fuck it" feeling that frees the characters or binds them to their lot. That Bertin writes about lost places, rural and urban, and the underclass that haunts them, is a real strength and gives this book more heart than the next.

There are very few short story writers in this country that are as good as they're made out to be, and almost none that write this caliber of story with any kind of consistency. Bertin is one of them, and he's written you this goddamn book. Do yourself a favour and read it.

[Sandy Plants · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories feels like the best, sad movie I’ve ever watched; maybe like Badlands? Everything feels so real; “there’s no way this is fiction”. As if he’s lived these lives somehow—as if he IS these people. I relate to them. I feel their pain. It’s visceral. I can touch it.

For fans of “standing beside your life-long neighbours as you all stare into the blaze that once was their house, their lives and memories becoming ash. You look on in shock, horror and emptiness as your feelings of safety and permanence burn to the fucking ground”.

I’m in love with this author.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories. A little on the depressing side, but well written.

[Roberto Iacobacci · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories of downtrodden people struggling to make sense of the world they live in are raw and real. Kris Bertin does a terrific job of setting and character development that his stories punch you in the gut and suck you into his character's world. The form of each story is consistent throughout and is very characteristic of canlit. I highly recommend this premier collection from Kris Bertin.

[Ron S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do they ever.

[Lucile Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

172. Bad Things Happen by Kris Berlin
Great stories by a Maritimes writer. Berlin is able to narrate believably from both a male or female viewpoint, gay or straight. Some characters show up in different stories with different narrators. A mentally ill university janitor thinks the building is moving and the professors humor him until he realizes they are really mocking him. A garbage collector has to deal with a disturbed rural family. A telemarketer realizes that his employer is cheating the old people and decides to quit even though it will put his own life in danger. In a later story, told from his mother’s point of view, he finds his calling back home as an exterminator of bugs and rodents. While it is gritty, the sense of humour and humanity in these stories gives them an extra dimension. Most of the stories have appeared in Canadian litmags and they deserved a much wider audience.

[Rachel Laverdiere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was deeply impressed with Kris Bertin's debut collection of short stories. In Bad Things Happen, Bertin explores with style, tone and POV--and with fantastic results! He writes about the people we forget about or those we don't bother getting to know. Some might call them the dregs of society. I know I will be thinking about these stories for a long time.

I easily recommend Bad Things Happen to anyone who is a fan of CanLit. I only hope it won't take Bertin ten years to write another collection!

[Derek Nason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story in this collection is a 5-star story. The Narrow Passage is now one of my favorites of all time. And The Eviction Process features the single greatest description of drinking during daylight hours. It’s going to cross my mind at every celebratory brunch for the rest of my life.

I’m super happy to hear he’s putting it another short story collection. He can do so much, introduce the reader to infinitely fascinating creatures, with only an hour’s reading time here and there. Each story is a tiny arrow to the heart.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the surface, these stories of labourers (drivers, garbage collectors, a janitor, a thief, con artists, drug dealers and an exterminator, among others) look at how people behave when things fall apart. When they jump on or fall off the wagon, when they make an unethical choice, when they fall for the wrong person or lose someone.

Digging a little, the stories are about... [see full review here]

[Rachel MacNaught · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, there's an apt title.
miserable people doing miserable things on miserable days - there was nothing to really RELATE to, as it was a level of wallowing and belly crawling reserved for thee sheer garbage of society. but it was interesting, familliar and fleshed out. the stories came from all angles but the thoughts didn't become a jumbled mess in the middle. they were individual but managed to tie together in tone alone.

[Jolynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would probably only give this book of short stories 3 or even 2.5 stars if I were just trying to convey my enjoyment of them. Really not my favorite but on the other hand well written, creative, and very different than anything I've read so have to go with the 4 stars. Characters, situations and settings I couldn't have begun to imagine without this author. The Narrow Passage was excellent.

[Shelley V. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even more offensive characters. Title makes me think this is young adult literature.

Author's bio, if it's real, is hilarious. The Great Gatsby himself is now writing fiction.

[Janice Boychuk · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 generous stars - baffled by the overwhelming 4 and 5 star reviews on this book.

This was a "beach read" while on vacation in Dominican. I read 7 of the 10 stories before surrendering it for another book. I don't know why, but I just didn't understand them; they made no sense. I am all about a good ending, and none of these had that. Every single time I mentally turned the page to see if that was truly the end.

Only one story stood out for me - Make Your Move. The writing style is so creative, the idea of parallel universes with completely different outcomes... if we didn't make that decision and went a different direction, "But lets say you don't [do that]..."

I like to support Canadian talent, but I couldn't relate to this author or his stories.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a great deal of deep, dark sh*t going on throughout the stories in this collection: it's full of sad, depressed, resigned, fearful people. But there's also poignancy, glimmers of happiness, and reconciliation to be found. It's not the type of subject matter I usually look for in an enjoyable read, but there is no denying the brilliance of the writing style at work in this collection. Canadian gothic might not be your thing...but this book is very much worth reading.

[Cameron Jester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve said many times before that it’s hard to rate short stories, but boy was this a good collection! I would happily read every short story if it were a full length book (except for The Eviction Process, I didn’t enjoy that one much) so I feel like that really says something. I appreciated how raw it all felt. Will read more from this author.

[Catherine Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kafkaesque stories that deal with the dirty (literally) aspects of life. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I did admire the courage of the author to delve in to such grim scenarios, and the writing was very good.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I wrote short stories, I like to think they would be as good as these.

[Amy Maddess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted more from this

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome collection of short literary stories that truly dig themselves in. Each one burrows underneath the skin and nestles there until the next comes to take its place. Highly recommend.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5. Eerie, melancholy stories. I just did t always find a way in.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to read a uniquely depressing book filled with stories that offer more of a snapshot into a sad life than a traditional narrative structure, this is the book for you.

[Paige Hull · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️Some stories were good, others were meh. I could tell it was written by a man, but not in a good way.

[Angélique (MapleBooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"After a moment, all he managed to say was bad things happen. It meant nothing to me, but he seemed to be satisfied with it, like that explained everything."

Picture FML raised to the literary level: this is Bad Things Happen. Ten stories of surprised disappointment in life, told in a sharp and intense style particular to Kris Bertin. Ten characters completely relatable, yet somewhat at the fringe of society: forgotten in a remote town of Canada, shoved aside by a mental condition and an alcohol addiction, buried in grief, withdrawn in the shadow of some criminal activities, or simply part of the invisible workers around us everyday. Bad Things Happen is definitely special, with its original points of view, extreme circumstances, and weird characters who still manage to elicit empathy.

A common thread in the book is the desire for a major life change. It starts with ordinary hope, like in “The Narrow Passage”, in which Richard is trying to finally hold a job; but working as a garbage collector unexpectedly confronts him with the frightening misery and violence of some isolated communities. In later stories, the stakes get higher, as in “Is Alive and Can Move”, where a university janitor is trying to treat his alcohol addiction while the whole campus he's working in, including the very walls, seems to threaten him…

"One night I walked into a beam of moonlight coming down from a little round windows and got trapped."

“Make Your Move” is one of my favourite short-story in Bad Things Happen, showing through a series of what-ifs how its character repeatedly fails to make his life spectacular. “Everywhere money” tells us of the other extreme: its protagonist lists all the reasons for which he's leaving utter wealth behind (“I quit because money was everywhere”), in what looks like an emotional breakdown.

I was very impressed by Bertin's direct, to-the-point style, which really conveys perfectly the emergency, stress and distress experienced by his characters, and creates a riveting tension in each story. The narration often falls into short, punchy statements with an intensity that a more flowery style wouldn't achieve.

"He's smiling, but smiling too hard, like his teeth are going to shatter."

Another common theme in Bad Things Happen is broken relationships. “The Story Here” probably provides an example of an utterly dysfunctional family, in which the return of a despised father brings the worst in his children. In “Crater Arms” also, a man seems to run away from his parents, or rather from their painful absence. While in “Your #1 Killer”, a mother is unable to communicate with her adult son, who just returned home after a breakup, and whom she catches--amongst other things--burning half a skunk in the garden. Actually, almost all the characters suffer from their life, alienated from the rest of the world in some way.

In a few words, Bad Things Happen is a brilliant and powerful short-story collection. Its characters are completely out of the ordinary, yet very relatable, as Bertin brings them to life with his impressive, razor-sharp style. These stories will make you either smile, either shudder, potentially both, but it definitely won't leave you indifferent. A riveting, highly-recommended gem!

[Dmac MacDougall]

Great + Try "Light Lifting" by Alexander McLeod

[Astrid]

Great stories. Write more, Kris.