Customer Reviews

Brautigan, Richard: A Pilgrimage, August, 1982 : Ringbound

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Did you ever want to go back in time and meet an author that changed your life? This pilgrim took me on his jouney back to visit a living Richard who eagerly shares a picture of a vat in Japan where watermelon sugar actually made, and dances like a tourist in San Francisco. This book isn't long enough. From the time he sees Richard lying on the hood of an old car, drinking champagne with a beautiful burnette, to the kitchen where the clock has been used for target practice, this book is an experience. Savor it like a taste of Watermellon sugar.

Richard Brautigan to David Curran is like Willaim Shatner to Trekkies. I admire and am even envious that he travelled to meet Brautigan but this piece is like a term paper. In fact, it appears to be paper in which he thanks fellow students in a college writing class; laser copy pages in a white binder with color copies of snapshots of Brautigan, his car, his house, his barn, his valley, his . . . Beyond the packaging, it's hard to tell if the author tries to emulate Brautigan's style, wit or insights. If so, he comes nowhere close. If not, the text is still as awkward as Brautigan must have felt when the author arrived unannounced seeking an autograph and an audience. The man he met and writes of bears little resemblance to the hero he sought.There's no discussion of this irony. Just forty pages or so of "I took his picture, twice, then we went outside and I stood in front of the mailbox and I calculated exposure with a light meter and I gave him the camera and he took my photo." All the while he's pushing the merits of ginseng on Brautigan.

What a treat, to meet Richard Brautigan and be invited to come back and chat with him. I wish I'd done it. But this author did and I'm glad to have had the chance to share the adventure . The book is laser printed with photos inserted in the binder. But the thrill of being with Richard comes through. The best part is the unpublished story Richard tells the author.

Given how terrified I am at the thought of asking my idols for autographs or interviews, I have to admire the fact that the author was able to do just that with Brautigan.

I really enjoyed the book, told from an awe-inspired fan perspective. Though I have to admit, horror/ghost stories are more my thing.