Bradley Sands || Books

"Have you ever had one of those nights when you could swear in front of a court of law that you haven’t had a wink of sleep, but the prosecutor would have a field day with details concerning your alarm clock going off after what seemed like only an hour and your lingering memories of mischievous lawn furniture?"

Forget everything you know about life, the world, and all the objects in it. Bradley Sands can bend them to his will with a frightening disregard for reality. You never know who, or what, is lying in wait behind the next comma. Whether it's Super Noxious Air Man and his sidekick, Kid Centrifugal Force, or the next episode of Teddy the Rottweiler Spayer, Sands keeps you off-balance with laughter and astonishment.

These stories are crammed with the delightfully odd and the scurrilously silly. From moment to moment My Heart Said No requires the most unexpected, perplexing, and hilarious leaps of faith. But you'll be glad you took this exhilarating jump into uncharted territory.

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Also, personalized, autographed (softcover) copies are available. During this special one-time offer, I will use my eerie powers to predict the cause of your death. Already, I can see something comical interfering with your respiratory system's ability to function. It will delight your friends and family, helping them through their emotional pain with the power of laughter. Accuracy guaranteed or your money back. Click the Paypal button below and kiss your ignorance goodbye. (U.S. residents only. Email for international shipping rates. Also email if you're interested in a hardcover copy.)

Meet Grover Goldstein: Twenty-First Century rascal, trainee provocateur, boy next door who won't stop snickering at you from behind the lawn gnome. Swallowed by a giraffe and regurgitated oodles of years into the future, Grover must satisfy his urge to go home--even if it means going back to high school and helping his severed, and sentient, penis win the presidential election.

Come along to Assumption High as Grover tries to answer the age-old question, "What if I had forgotten then what I don't know now?"

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Click here to read the first chapter online.

Blurbs:

Bradley Sands' debut novel is an absurdist dreamscape that subverts the physical laws of the world as we know it and exposes a brilliant new arena of bizarro existence. In It Came from Below the Belt, the body becomes a surreal, grotesque playground as enfant terrible Grover Goldstein tears through the libidinal fabric of time and space on an uncanny journey to the end of the night. This is speculative fiction at its best. Sands is a talented, fearsome, comic visionary who will usher you into the psychedelic matrix of futurity.

D. Harlan Wilson, author of STRANGER ON THE LOOSE and PSEUDO-CITY

Reading the work of Bradley Sands caused me to vomit happiness and sunshine from my eyeballs. Highly recommended.

Kevin L. Donihe, author of SHALL WE GATHER AT THE GARDEN? and editor of BARE BONE

I came, I saw, I read, I laughed, I fell out of my chair. You're more unstable than I am. Well done! Just beware those big brawny guys with the net. They're faster than they look. And you've got more books to write. Rock on.

Kris Saknussemm, author of ZANESVILLE

Reviews:

"Bradley Sands’ first novel is a stunning debut jam-packed with excitement and witty, disguised pop culture references. This is the first work that gives the reader a look into the creative mind of a very talented individual and suggests an extremely successful future in the Bizarro world." [Read more...]
Thirdeye Magazine

"In Bradley Sands' debut novel, the laws of nature, logic and physics prove to be easily changeable: giraffes become time machines, a pet lemming runs a private high school, and hall monitors become hot dates in this fun, mindbending work of fiction." [Read more...]
The Dream People

"Contrary to what I had originally thought, reading a novel at gunpoint is not an entirely unpleasant experience. It Came from Below the Belt is a fine example of the burgeoning genre known as bizarro. The writers known for this style embrace weirdness for its own sake, while still retaining the primary goal of telling an entertaining story (like David Lynch does for film)." [Read more...]
Craig's Book Club

There's a new genre rising from the underground. Its name: BIZARRO. For
years, readers have been asking for a category of fiction dedicated to the
weird, crazy, cult side of storytelling that has become a staple in the film
industry (with directors such as David Lynch, Takashi Miike, Tim Burton, and
even Lloyd Kaufman) but has been largely ignored in the literary world,
until now.

The Bizarro Starter Kit features short novels and story collections by ten of the leading authors in the bizarro genre: Ray Fracalossy, Jeremy C. Shipp, Jordan Krall, Mykle Hansen, Andersen Prunty, Eckhard Gerdes, Bradley Sands, Steve Aylett, Christian TeBordo, and Tony Rauch.

This inaugural volume of The &Now Awards recognizes the most provocative, hardest-hitting, deadly serious, patently absurd, cutting-edge, avant-everything-and-nothing work from the years 2004-09. The &NOW Awards features writing as a contemporary art form: writing as it is practiced today by authors who consciously treat their work as an art, and as a practice explicitly aware of its own literary and extra-literary history—as much about its form and materials, language, as it about its subject matter. The &NOW conference—moving from the University of Notre Dame (2004), Lake Forest College (2006), Chapman University (2008), and the University at Buffalo (2009)—sets the stage for this aesthetic, while The &Now Awards features work from the wider world of innovative publishing and serves as an ideal survey of the contemporary scene.

Cutting edge fiction for cutting edge minds. Thirty-seven voices from around the world come together to bring you forty-six stories that defy easy categorization: grit-lit, urban, surrealist, raw, outsider, bizarro, fringe, experimental. Subtle, yet in your face. This anthology is not for the faint of heart - it takes chances, and so should you. Featuring new fiction from authors hailing from the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Includes stories by: Brad Listi (Attention. Deficit. Disorder.: A Novel), Kate Holden (In My Skin: A Memoir), Tony O'Neill (Digging the Vein), Kristopher Young (Click), Jeremy Robert Johnson (Angel Dust Apocalypse), Carlton Mellick III (Satan Burger), Daniel Scott Buck (The Greatest Show on Earth), Henry Baum (Oscar Calibur Gun), Kevin Donihe (Shall We Gather at the Garden), Kenji Siratori (Blood Electric), Gina Ranalli (Chemical Gardens), and many more.