Richard Brautigan is truly a remarkable treat. And when you get three novellas in one, the uncanny excellence of that treat is magnified even further.

The charm of RB lies in what he doesn't say, in the things he chooses to leave out. This forces the reader to focus on the afterthought, as the prose is so simply efficient that it allows your mind to wonder at the wonder.

You don't just read a Brautigan; you experience it, live it, feel it. The book often ends up in a newspaper-like spiral, as if it had spent a full day being used at the track for the racing form. We frequently flip back and forth from one poem or story to the next, then back again, rinse and repeat over and over! I wonder what Richard Brautigan would think of today. I more or less believe he'd be of the Rutger persuasion and feel that humankind is misrepresented en masse. We all too often are quick to point out the horrific simply because it is more accessible, more sensationalist. After all, a report saying 'no kids kidnapped or wars breaking out here' isn't exactly one we can ever expect to see in the nightly news. This is our Achilles heel in modern times, a poison on all of society.

I can't say it better than the Lovely Eggs did: "Have you ever read Richard Brautigan? Ever ever read Brautigan? Well if you've never read Richard Brautigan - then I'm fairly sure you'll burn in hell."

The light gently pours itself through a small hole in the sky.

I'm not in a very happy state, but still, I can catch a glimpse of how things are in the faraway distance.

After he took his own life by gunshot, it was weeks before Brautigan's body was discovered. As the apocryphal story goes, he allegedly wrote in his suicide note: "Messy, isn't it?"

These words were what initially led me to read Brautigan. The hardcore punk band Dangers even adopted these words as the title for their 2010 album. Whether or not Brautigan actually wrote this particular phrase seems to be a matter of debate, but it would surely seem to fit his character.

"In Watermelon Sugar" was the standout piece in this collection, although "Trout Fishing in America" also lived up to its well-known reputation. Brautigan has a reputation for being humorous, but I didn't really find him that funny. Instead, I would say he had a remarkable gift of perception, of being able to re-view this awful world in which we find ourselves stranded. Most of his language is concise and powerful, but his metaphors run amok, venturing to places that are often extremely difficult to follow. Strangely enough, this actually makes more sense in the context of his work.

I'll place him up there with James Agee in my personal pantheon of American authors who were simply too full of life for this society that seems to be predicated on death. All I am left with is a sense of bewilderment.

Read this because my ex-boyfriend had said that 'In Watermelon Sugar' was the best book he ever read.

He also claimed that multiple people he recommended it to said the same. Well, I have to say it was pretty good.

However, I suspect he was also hyping up his own taste a bit.

To be honest, I remember reading 'Trout Fishing in America' while getting my tree tattoo, but I don't remember a thing about the actual book.

The poems in it were just too deep for me to understand.

So, this is mainly a review of 'In Watermelon Sugar'.

I found the story to be quite unique and engaging.

The characters were well-developed and the setting was vividly described.

It had a certain charm that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Overall, I would recommend 'In Watermelon Sugar' to anyone looking for a different kind of read.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely worth a try.

This is a collection encompassing Brautigan's more renowned works. It offers an engaging read that captivates the imagination. I have a particular fondness for his novel In Watermelon Sugar.

Unlike a significant portion of his other novels, In Watermelon Sugar adheres to the fundamental structure and development typical of a novel. Brautigan's work is distinguished by phrasing that is frequently poetic and evocative, yet not effortlessly comprehensible. His words fashion a space and an aura without precisely defining things.

For example, in his novel Trout Fishing in America, the title is also the name of a main character. The meaning behind this is not straightforward to discern. Generally speaking, I would assert that the writing is rather puzzling.

I recommend this work for its significance in American Literature during the period (roughly from the 1950s to the 1980s); for its unique phrasing and the way it bends typical literary genres, forms, and words; and for its own intrinsic value.

Happy puzzling.

Reading this compilation was truly a beautiful experience.

I have never come across a writer who has the ability to turn a phrase in such an unexpected manner as Brautigan. His writing is like a dream, full of logical illogicality.

Just when you think you are familiar with and understand what he is saying, the next word suddenly throws the passage into an entirely different world.

I would highly recommend “In Watermelon Sugar” to any bibliophile. If not for its peculiar and irreplaceable dreamscape, then for its beautiful writing and interesting story.

The only way I can describe it is “surreal and familiarly unfamiliar.” Strangely enough, I would also refer to it as “cute.”

Brautigan's work has a unique charm that draws you in and keeps you engaged from beginning to end. It makes you think, it makes you feel, and it leaves a lasting impression on your mind.

If you are looking for something different and extraordinary, then “In Watermelon Sugar” is definitely worth a read.

Please provide the article that needs to be rewritten and expanded so that I can help you.

Richard Brautigan is known as one of the leading writers of the counterculture movement that reached its peak in the late 1960s, with an extension of the beat generation and a disregard for established order and values. I took this book of his on a trip three years ago. The book is a collection and exactly the same edition as the three works he published in 1967 - 1968.

The first book, "Trout Fishing in America" (translated into Turkish as "Fishing for Trout in America"), although it is called a novel, it has an amorphous type. There is a surreal atmosphere in the small sections that can be said to be independent of each other. It also has a social satire nature, but of course, if it has any meaning, it is difficult to understand. To be honest, I didn't like it much.

"The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster" is a poetry book. These are poems with a heavy dose of satire, especially devoid of poetry. The short poem that gives the book its name is quite impressive. But generally, the poems didn't appeal to me.

The part of the collection that I read with the most interest was "In Watermelon Sugar" (translated into Turkish as "In Watermelon Sugar"). This short and impressive novel is the amazing story of a utopian community that produces many things they use in daily life from watermelon sugar and trout oil (again trout!). The name of the community is also remarkable; iDeath. Brautigan seems to have seen the role that devices like the iPhone, iPad, and iMac would play in our lives 50 years ago:) Of course, this is a joke. The course of the tension between the "rival community" consisting of shady characters and the people of iDeath, who live in a huge junkyard called Forgotten Works, is also a strong aspect of the book. This tension ends with a quite shocking scene. The novel, which also contains a sad love triangle, takes the reader into a fairy-tale and impressive atmosphere with vegetable statues, talking bears, and underwater graves.

Looking at these three works, I would say that if you are going to read something by Brautigan, read "In Watermelon Sugar". You will have a very different experience.

Brautigan's poems possess a unique charm that combines sadness, silliness, and beauty. His voice is reminiscent of that of a precocious child, unfiltered and brutally honest. This honesty, while sometimes painful, adds a layer of authenticity to his work that is truly captivating.

Each poem seems to be a window into his complex and often idiosyncratic mind. The sadness he expresses is not the overwhelming kind that drowns you but rather a gentle melancholy that lingers long after you've finished reading. The silliness, on the other hand, provides a lighthearted counterpoint, making his poems all the more endearing.

Overall, Brautigan's work is a testament to his creative genius. It may be a little kooky at times, but that's what makes it so special. His ability to blend the disparate elements of sadness, silliness, and beauty into a cohesive whole is truly remarkable and has earned him a well-deserved place in the canon of American poetry.

I have a particular fondness for “In Watermelon Sugar” as it holds a special charm for me. However, when it comes to Richard Brautigan as a whole, I just don't find his works consistently interesting. There are times when his writing seems to lack the engaging quality that keeps me hooked from start to finish. And to be completely honest, his poetry just doesn't do it for me. It often feels flat and lacking in the depth and beauty that I look for in good poetry. I appreciate the unique style that Brautigan brings to his writing, but unfortunately, it doesn't always resonate with me on a deeper level. While “In Watermelon Sugar” stands out as a favorite, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed with some of his other works.

As part of an ongoing informal plan to periodically re-visit select books that had an impression on my young self, I picked this up.

However, I had more than a little reservation approaching this one. I recall that I liked it. But I also recall (fuzzily) that it leaned towards cute, a bit twee.

Some things enjoyed in youth you can never go back to – they just don't hold up. So, would Trout Fishing in America feel too young, maybe annoyingly so?

Well, sort of, yes. And it was a bit cute and twee. But it's also incredibly delightful and unexpectedly moving.

It's a nostalgic book. So it's fitting that I read it with some nostalgia. There's a lot of joy here.

Read it slow and just go with it. Let the words wash over you and transport you back to a time when life was a little simpler and a lot more full of wonder.

Don't overthink it, just enjoy the ride. You might be surprised at how much this little book has to offer.

Give it a chance and see where it takes you.

I wish I could recall who recommended this collection to me. However, it found its way onto my to-read list without my having much knowledge about Richard Brautigan or his place within The Beats.

This collection presents a portrayal of America that was, at times, only a reality for certain individuals and is now most definitely a thing of the past - a life filled with sex, poetry, and manual labor beside unspoiled streams. I began reading these books envious of never being able to experience America in this manner, and I couldn't completely rid myself of that feeling. It is, on occasion, misogynistic. At the very least, he imposes absurd beauty standards on women. Seriously, dude, your picture is on the cover of the book and you're no great catch. Additionally, it is selfish. But being selfish doesn't necessarily mean it's either good or bad. The sense of community and care that one forms in such a setting is different from what support looks like in the place where I live.

I did finish the books yearning for the freedom he had. Yet, if I were to possess that freedom, I believe I would utilize it in a completely different way.

Neko Case, Father John Misty, and Harry Styles have all drawn inspiration from this, but I only truly have an affinity for Neko Case.

Trout Fishing in America is Brautigan's remarkable work that offers his original and vivid observations of people, places, and events. Back in the 1960s, as he traveled around Idaho and its surrounding areas, he crafted this unique narrative.

The narrator in this work presents himself as a charming and optimistic wanderer. He takes great delight in making unique observations about the things he encounters along the way. In fact, I believe that Trout Fishing in America is composed of several different people, who change as the disrupted story progresses. For a while, one gets accustomed to this fluidity.

The middle section of poetry, however, didn't quite capture my attention as much. The poems were mostly brief observations that didn't seem to lead anywhere in particular. If you have a penchant for Haiku, you might very well enjoy these more than I did. One poem that appealed to me to some extent was "Star Hole," with its theme of an unhappy speaker in isolation, yet still able to appreciate the happiness of others.

The final section, IN WATERMELON SUGAR, was, I think, the one I enjoyed the most. The writing was simple and innocent, almost childlike, with slight repetitions in both prose and dialogue. The setting is a surreal town called iDEATH, where everything is, of course, made of watermelon sugar. There used to be tigers that ate people, but they have long since been killed off. The story, which is a sort of love triangle, ends tragically. However, all of the characters' reactions to the events that unfold are odd and unique. The townspeople of iDEATH lead simple lives. One might spend an entire afternoon planting flowers or picking out relics from The Forgotten Works, a junkyard of the past. There is very little mention of anything existing outside of this humble little town on the side of the river. I just read that the Neko Case song "Margaret Vs. Pauline" is based on this story, so I think I'll go and listen to it. Until next time...