Best American Poetry has a little bit of a Richard Brautigan reminiscence up on their blog. It’s nice to be reminded of Brautigan’s greatness every now and again.
Everything Tom Robbins gets credit for being, Brautigan was. And though I’m more fond of his novels—especially Confederate General in Big Sur and In Watermelon Sugar and The Abortion—Best American Poetry put this poem, “Catfish Friend,” on their blog. It’s one of my all-time favorite sappy romantic poems, and I’m going to run it here just for you:
Awww. Now to get the cloying taste out of your mouth, here’s some writing Charles D’Ambrosio did that references Brautigan. He’s a big Brautigan fan—I just accidentally typed “Brautifan,” which is oddly appropriate—and the essay he did on Brautigan for Swink Magazine was excellent, although it’s currently out of print.
Awwww… that’s my new favorite poem.
I miss Brautigan. My recently deceased brother — once a paragon of true flower-child culture — introduced me to those short novels when I was just a lad. They led to Tom Robbins, sure enough. And that can be dangerous for a midwestern boy.
this is one of my favorite sappy poems EVER, and I’m delighted to be reminded of it. thanks, paul!
I want a trout stream sale in my neighborhood, like the one in Trout Fishing In America. An under appreciated author in general.
Go find a copy of Rommel Drives on Deeper Into Egypt today!
You missed my favorite Richard Brautigan book title, “Revenge of the Lawn”.
Thank you for this. “So the Wind Won’t Blow it All Away” is a total heart-breaker.
I like that sappy poem.
I have always loved Brautigan since I was a teen. Here is another poem for you.
Haiku Ambulance
A piece of green pepper fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?
Interestingly, the Charles D’Ambrosio essay you link to was commissioned by and first printed in The Stranger. It was the lead piece for the paper’s books quarterly, back in 1996, when extravagances such as books quarterlies were thought to be supportable. Also, three or four years ago Charlie wrote a long piece about his love of Brautigan’s work for The Organ, Portland’s arts broadsheet, edited by Camela Raymond. It might be the same essay that ended up in Swink, but since neither is online I can’t be sure.
[Drooling at the thought of a Stranger books quarterly] Thanks for the information on that, Matthew.
I read this poem to the WTBBL Adult Braille group! because it is my favourite.