Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan (32/81)

Category: Retro – 1960s, Beats, Hippies and Counterculture

Although my fourth book in this category, this is the first example of writing actually from that period that I’ve read for the challenge. As an example of the weird literary experiments of the time, I think this is a good choice.

The book is made up of a series of short essays (for want of a better word) that are all vaguely around the idea of “Trout Fishing in America”. In some “Trout Fishing in America” is more or less what you would think it means, tales of fishing across the USA, but more often the phrase turns up to mean something completely different. It is often the name of a person, it is the name of hotel in one place and in my favourite story, it is a slogan written on school jackets.

There were parts of it that I enjoyed but other parts I found frustrating. Brautigan can obviously write and I would have liked to see his talent used in a sustained way rather than the fragmented style here. Very much of its time and therefore great for this category and I will certainly attempt more of his work in future.