I really appreciate your take on Richard Brautigan. I've been a fan of his for a long time, even though I don't really understand his work most of the time. The lessons you give from his writing are inspirational - especially about remaining childlike and experimenting.
When I was in graduate school I audited a fiction writing class. We had to write a short story. I wrote about a child that had a companion snake, a drain snake. The characters had funny names and created absurd situations. The instructor said my work was like Richard Brautigan's. I'd never heard of Brautigan, so I bought a three-book set that included Revenge of the Lawn, Williard & His Bowling Trophies, and Hawkline Monster. I couldn't put them down. I often laughed and was impressed with his thought process. Like the fellow that had to give his shadow as collateral. One I especially liked, was the one about his father-in-law's death. It had a poignant ending. Thanks, for rekindling my respect for his work. I was saddened when he committed suicide.
Reading Trout fishing in America for the first time and i'm struggling to appreciate it. He most certainly makes me laugh the same way that I did when I read the pill vs, but i'm having trouble "getting" into Trout Fishing. Do you have any advice on how to approach his novels and appreciate the work? Is there anything I should look for?
I love Brautigan, but I feel the same way. People should read his short stories, "Revenge of the Lawn" first, and if they adore the quirkiness as I do, move on to "In Watermelon Sugar," "Willard and His Bowling Trophies," "The Hawkline Monster," and others. The poetry too. But, "Trout Fishing in America"? Save it for later, along with "A Confederate General in Big Sur," to see another side of the author.
That question is not as odd as it seems. It has always been my impression you have to be nuts in the first place to become a writer. These personality types would be just a likely to kill themselves if they were plumbers. Writing itself is not what makes people nuts. Most fiction writers are productive into old age.
