A book âthat has very little to do with trout fishing and a lot to do with the lamenting of a passing pastoral America . . . an instant cult classicâ (Financial Times).
Richard Brautigan was a literary idol of the 1960s and â70s 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 âthe last of the Beats,â 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.
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This new edition features an introduction by poet Billy Collins, who first encountered Brautiganâs work as a student in California.
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From the introduction: ââTrout Fishing in Americaâ 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. âTrout Fishing in Americaâ is also a slogan that sixth-graders enjoy writing on the backs of first-graders. . . . In one notable exhibition of the titleâs variability, âTrout Fishing in Americaâ 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.â
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