Trout Fishing In America [MM0020]

1974 MMPB sixth Laurel printing of the iconic 1967 original, in fully legible, WORN condition. A book "that has very little to do with trout fishing and a lot to do with the lamenting of a passing pastoral America . . . an instant cult classic" (Financial Times). Richard Brautigan was a literary idol of the 1960s and '70s who came of age during the heyday of Haight-Ashbury and whose comic genius and iconoclastic vision of American life caught the imaginations of young people everywhere. Called "the last of the Beats," his early books became required reading for the hip generation, and on its publication Trout Fishing in America became an international bestseller. An indescribable romp, the novel is best summed up in one word: mayonnaise.

From an Introduction added to a LATER edition of the book by poet Billy Collins, who first encountered Brautigan's work as a student in California: "'Trout Fishing in America' is a catchphrase that morphs throughout the book into a variety of conceptual and dramatic shapes. At one point it has a physical body that bears such a resemblance to that of Lord Byron that it is brought by ship from Missolonghi to England, in 1824, where it is autopsied. 'Trout Fishing in America' is also a slogan that sixth-graders enjoy writing on the backs of first-graders. . . . In one notable exhibition of the title's variability, 'Trout Fishing in America' turns into a gourmet with a taste for walnut catsup and has Maria Callas for a girlfriend. Through such ironic play, Brautigan destabilizes any conventional idea of a book as he begins to create a world where things seem unwilling to stay in their customary places."

From recent-ish MIXED Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "My general impression of the book is playfulness with a serious dark edge to it that could be too faint to see clearly. Perhaps the ambiguity is part of the point. Hence, my ambiguous recommendation: should you be asked if you have read Trout Fishing in America, you can truthfully say "yes," but there are many more possible reasons."; "A brilliant work by a happy(?), tortured soul. This tome IS what everyone says: 1. Far and away his best story; 2. A great travelogue of H/A back in the day; 3. A book that anyone 18 and culturally awake in '68 (me, for example) will cherish and pass on."; "Not an intelligent book. More like a drug trip."; "Trout Fishing in America (TFA) is my first venture into American surrealist writing and it was a fun ride! That's not to say it was all light-hearted fluff, there were definitely some themes I recognized as playing a big role in the time the book was published, but, as I think was prevalent in Brautigan's writing scene, this was delivered with good humor! I'm glad to have tasted the American surrealist scene and I'm hungry for more!"; "In the beginning I wasn't hooked, in the middle I was done, and in the end, I was all in. So read it. Stick to it. Maybe love it, maybe don't? I don't know. I don't know if I ever bought any mayonnaise, either, and I don't think either thing particularly matters."