Brautigan's Trout Fishing In America

This afternoon I began reading Richard Brautigan's, Trout Fishing In America. It's weird, I'm not sure what to think of it yet, but I like it.

I came across him when watching Harrison and McGuane's documentary, Tarpon. He seemed to be the odd ball in that group (which is really saying something). I worked with a guy at Katzinger's would was always telling me that I needed to read it. So, 15 years later, I am.

Early highlights ...
From "KNOCK ON WOOD (PART TWO)"

I left the place and walked down to the different street corner. How beautiful the field looked and the creek that came pouring down in a waterfall off the hill.

But as I got closer to the creek I could see that something was wrong. The creek did not act right. There was a strangeness to it. There was a thing about its motion that was wrong. Finally I got close enough to see what the trouble was.

The waterfall was just a flight of white wooden stairs leading up to a house in the trees.

I stood there for a long time, looking up and down, following the stairs with my eyes, having trouble believing.

Then I knocked on my creek and heard the sound of wood.

I ended up by being my own trout and eating the slice of bread myself.

I was delighted by the change in perspective, though I'm certain the narrator was not ...

There was nothing I could do. I couldn't change a flight of stairs into a creek.


From "KOOL-AID WINO"
You were supposed to make only two quarts of Kool-Aid from a package, but he always made a gallon, so his Kool-Aid was a mere shadow of its desired potency. And you're supposed to add a cup of sugar to every package of Kool-Aid, but never put any sugar in his Kool-Aid because there wasn't any sugar to put in it.

He created his own Kool-Aids reality and was able to illuminate himself by it.

"... and was able to illuminate himself by it."

Fritz Perls said, "I am not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine.”

Lesson learned through the Kool-Aid Ritual.

By the way ... "the dishes can wait."