Richard Brautigan

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Richard Brautigan
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From a mysterious childhood

• From the Pacific Northwest
• Father unknown
• Suffered from abuse and neglect
• Later turned to alcoholism and suicide

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to a mysterious adulthood

• Came to San Francisco in the 1950s
• Various frustrations led to jail and mental
  institution
• Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia

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Literary Influences
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Imagination and Reality

• Like his characters, Brautigan probably sought
  solace in imagination.

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The Beat Community

• The famed City Lights bookstore held many Beat
  readings.

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Writing Trout Fishing in America

• Trout Fishing may be the only novel to have been
  written along the sides of trout streams.

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A Different Era

• The 1970s saw a falling-off from the Beat and
  Hippie movements.
• Brautigan could not maintain his popularity.

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New Audiences
As you can see, Europe has been good to me.

• Brautigan began sharing his work in Europe and in
  Japan.
• He married a Japanese woman.
• He suffered from depression.

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The Last Chapter

• An unexpected meeting with his ex-wife was a
  likely pre-curser to Brautigans suicide.