Richard freakin' Brautigan

flowerburgers

New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 15, 2012
Messages
442
Reaction score
40
Location
San Francisco
Any other fans out there? This man has singlehandedly captured my heart, he is the BEST and I heartily recommend him to everyone because he will blow your mind. For those of you who already love him, what are your favorite of his books? I still haven't read three of 'em (they are hard to find!) but I think this is my top five:

1) Trout Fishing in America
2) So The Wind Won't Blow It All Away
3) A Confederate General From Big Sur
4) The Tokyo-Montana Express
5) In Watermelon Sugar

If it interests anyone, I run a Richard Brautigan tumblr here: http://fuckyeahrichardbrautigan.tumblr.com/

It is actually well on its way (and may already be) the most comprehensive collection of his work in one place on the web, almost all his published poetry is there and many stories. Enjoy!
 

Brett Marie

Slayer of Adverbs
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 23, 2011
Messages
263
Reaction score
16
Location
All over the Map
The Abortion. Yes, I loved Trout Fishing... and Confederate General..., but come on! Who in the world could write a story about such a controversial and depressing topic as an illegal abortion and turn it into a whimsical flight of fancy?

They say about that one that if you read it in a certain way, you can see Brautigan inventing the Internet.

Also, those covers! With the photos of him and those hippie chicks? Glorious!

By the way, his daughter Ianthe wrote this book about being his daughter, and about dealing with his death. It's way more serious than any of his work, a real poignant memoir. I highly recommend it.
 

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
Most certainly. And one of my faves is his later novel Sombrero Fallout. Since his death, Brautigan seems to have fallen under some shadow of lack of public awareness, but he was a fine and unique writer deserving of continuing interest.

caw
 

nighttimer

No Gods No Masters
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 4, 2006
Messages
11,629
Reaction score
4,103
Location
CBUS
I've only read Brautigan's Dreaming of Babylon and when I picked it up I burned the midnight oil before I put it down.

Overview: It is early 1942. You are in San Francisco, and you need a private eye. Sam Spade is rumored to be in Istanbul. Philip Marlowe is up at Little Fawn Lake investigating the disappearance of Mrs. Derace Kingsley. Lew Archer is in the army. Who's left? Nobody but C. Card. You haven't heard of C. Card? That's all right. Nobody has. When you hire C. Card, you have scraped the bottom of the private eye barrel. But you won't be bored.

I believe this book defined the word, "quirky." I've never read anything quite like it before, after or since and I'm quite sure I never will.
 

DarthPanda

All hopped up on goofballs.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 24, 2012
Messages
482
Reaction score
153
Location
Tennessee
I'm a fan.

I went to a Machines of Loving Grace concert a million and a half years ago, and when I looked them up online, I found his poem. I started reading his stuff after that. :)

I think we had dial-up back then...

Shit. I feel old now.