Floodmarkers

by Nic Brown

Lystra, North Carolina. A fictional town full of very real people who survive the attack of Hurricane Hugo and then find their bearings in the aftermath-often in wild and hilarious ways. The days leading up to the impending disaster are not at all unusual-no portents of disaster, no signs of impending calamity. Bryce works his night shift at the hot dog factory, Isaac drives the bus to school, Evelyn attends a funeral. But when the electricity fails in the middle of the night on September 21, 1989, it marks the moment when everything will Hugo has arrived.The storm builds, the wind whips by faster and faster, and interpersonal dramas, grudges, and rivalries are dredged up along with the flotsam and debris. Meanwhile, flood markers, painted red, track the height of the water from past rainstorms, and as the creek level rises higher than ever before, so do the emotions of the townspeople. Alternating between weather forecasts and short stories, Floodmarkers is an exquisitely crafted day-in-the-life of a town. And as Nic Brown has us look bravely at the eye of the storm, he cleverly shows us that human nature can stir up a spectacular tempest all its own.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

Nic Brown is the author of the memoir Bang Bang Crash, as well as the novels In Every Way, Doubles, and Floodmarkers, which was selected as an Editors' Choice by The New York Times Book Review. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Oxford American, and the Harvard Review, among many other publications. A graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has served as the Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi and is now a professor of creative writing at Clemson University.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fans of writers like Arthur Bradford and Miranda July will eat this one up. More than once, it's embarrassed me by making me laugh out loud in public. And how the hell does Nic Brown turn a fuckin' hilarious line like "roll my dice" into something unexpectedly moving? For real -- this is one of the freshest, most heartfelt story collections of the last couple of years.

[Scotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Doubles, I had pretty high expectations from Nic Brown's prose. I was not disappointed.

Floodmarkers is sort of a collection of short stories that reads as a novella. Characters pop up here and there enough that their names are known. All of the stories in the collection are centered around the experiences of people living in Lystra, North Carolina in 1989 during hurricane Hugo.

To be completely honest, I thought that the topic sounded boring. However, Nic Brown doesn't just focus on what the hurricane is doing or anything like that; rather, the stories zero in on the individual life stories of Lystra inhabitants and how all of their stories tie together.

When I finished the collection, I wanted more. Not in an unsatisfied way, like the collection was lacking, but in the way that I so thoroughly enjoyed the stories. I wanted the stories to continue even after the hurricane had passed. What became of the older man with the broken hip? And what about the veterinarian and his sister?

Overall: Read this! Don't just read it, prioritize it!

[Marian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was just terrific -- similar to Olive Kitteridge in that the stories are linked through characters. The stories do *not* go where you expect, and if you are a North Carolinian it is fun to catch all the local references. I really enjoyed this.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

And while I'm at it, let me say something about another former classmate who wrote a great collection. I joined Goodreads after I'd already read this goodread, but since I'm giving shout-outs of sorts, these are some stories worth reading.

And they're linked this time! Joe Meno already said this better than I can in his NYT review, but this book flourishes in the novel-in-stories-genre. Each tale holds its own while providing some kind of bridge to the next. It hits you in jabs of pleasure and then coalesces into a larger pleasurable battering (not sure what I'm admitting about myself here). This is an author who excels at cutting the funny with a sharp sting of the sad and poignant. And his characters find moments of revelation in the oddest of circumstances. I wish I lived through a hurricane, just so my life could be more like the lives rendered here. Unpredictable, hilarious, just enough warmth.

[smetchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember The Ice Storm with Christina Ricci? It was back when she still had big boobs and was quirky and interesting. I love that movie.

Well this book is sort of like that movie, only not as good.
It's a bunch of interwoven stories about some people living in a small town during Hurricane Hugo. Only Hurricane Hugo doesn't actually hit the town in the stories. It just makes a lot of rain and flooding. The townspeople are mostly disappointed that the Hurricane doesn't hit them and I was mostly disappointed by their stories.

[Elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

as i read this book i swung wildly back and forth between loving it and despising it, often times mentally changing my rating from a 2 to a 5 only to change it back by the next chapter. the characters and stories are incredibly vivid, which made me connect deeply to the town and its inhabitants, while at other points making me extremely uncomfortable from the detailed descriptions of incredibly messed up characters (mainly just pedophile veterinarian) or a horrifying situations (the idea of being stuck in a flooding basement with a broken hip while your house is being robbed actually repulsed me a little). the same writing that had me devouring chapter after chapter also left me needing to take a break after a particularly off putting story. good or bad, i enjoyed this book immensely. and in the end, i couldn’t help but feel attached to this little town and all it’s fucked up little inhabitants, and that’s good enough for me.

[David Jacobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers a look at early-2000s suburban American life through well-crafted prose vignettes, all taking place on the day a mildly destructive hurricane hit the town of Lystra, N.C. While some of the characters and situations overlap, these are mostly separate short stories. It was a disappointment, partway through, to realize that this would be the case, since the characters are sharply drawn, and I would have liked to have seen more done with them. Some of the initial stories are delightfully pulpy (there is a nude party at a tanning salon and a flood at a hog-dog plant), and I thought maybe this presaged an off-the-wall style throughout. But, the later stories became more nostalgic in character.

[Sharon Falduto]

A collection of vignettes about people who were affected by Hurricane Hugo in North Carolina in 1989. The book had a very real feel to it, but it was too short, and we didn't get back to some of the characters I really cared about.

[Heidi Hilty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of vignettes, centered around a weather event in a small town in North Carolina. I feel the stories/sections could have been more developed and would have made for a more cohesive novel but I like the author’s style.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I don't like books that are a collection of stories, even if they are about related characters. Somehow, the energy I invest in getting to know a main character makes me want more than a few pages on them. I guess I love the escapist sensation of falling into long-lasting alternate world. But this book, like Olive Kittredge which another reviewer mentioned, has characters that are moving enough to get me to keep reading. This is the first Nic Brown book I have read. While I do plan to do more, I hope that he moves to full-length novels in subsequent works.

[Catherine Siemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of interrelated short stories about 24 hours in the life of a coastal South Carolina town on the day that Hurricane Hugo struck, Floodmarkers explores a collection of engaging, frustrating, stuck, and memorable characters. One of the frustrations of such a sparely-written work is wanting to know more; these characters and these events could easily have made a lengthy novel. But as they are, the stories work very well.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not so much a story as some connected scenes all taking place around the same little fictional town of Lystra, NC during a hurricane. The author does a good job of capturing the half party/ half terror feelings we get when confronted with a big storm. Relationships are formed, memories examined and emotions run high.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should have read this in public in Chapel Hill as the author lives there. Too bad I was in Cary instead. Anyway, I enjoyed the linked stories and the community (Lystra, NC, during Hurricane Hugo) he portrayed. But I have unanswered questions, though i doubt they'll stick with me for long.

[Don Zabriskie · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the exception of the last two stories, I enjoyed much of this collection. The character development is very good and the way Nic Brown carries over some characters from one story to another enhances the idea that Lystra, NC is indeed a small town.

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

TANfastic!...and not just because i love this guy. this is really good writing. it made me chortle and squirm.

[Raines Kuppin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It made me laugh ... cringe at times ... and I definitely had to read a few passages outloud to anyone nearby. Nice work, Nic!

[eb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy can write a mean line of dialogue. His obvious love of dogs and kids doesn't hurt, either.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and strange vignettes from a fictional Southern town somewhere in my area. This book has been getting a lot of press and so far, I am not disappointed.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

A "novel in stories," according to NYT review.

For my taste, the "stories" didn't really coalesce into a "novel."

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with memorable, funny scenes. And certainly has the first hefty and funny story I've ever read set in a hot dog factory. Kudos to Nic Brown.

[Humph · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a amazing look at Carolina in the early 90s... and well the stories are hilarious.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

hmmmm..... unlikeable characters, worse of humanity, didn't go anywhere

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this book was a good one and I enjoyed many of the characters, but the whole thing was too disjointed. It needed to come together more at the end.

[jeff christmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was great--and appreciated that it was set where I grew up. Fantastic writing, compelling characters, and just enough terror to keep me guessing.