Boyer, Jay (Brautigan, Richard)

Western Writers Series #79: Richard Brautigan

Boise, ID: Boise State University Printing, 1987. First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. “At the age of forty-nine, Richard Brautigan committed suicide in a house he owned in Bolinas, California, a small coastal town some twenty miles north of San Francisco. Files from the Marin County Coroner’s office and the office of the Sheriff of Marin County suggest that he stood at the foot of his bed looking out a window and put a handgun to his head, a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum he’d borrowed from his friend Jimmy Sakata, the sixty-year-old proprietor of Cho-Cho’s, a Japanese restaurant in San Francisco that Brautigan was particularly fond of. He shot himself around the first of October 1984. The precise date of his suicide cannot be determined since he was living alone at the time and his body, so badly decomposed that it defied recognition, was not discovered until 25 October 1984.”--Jay Boyer, Western Writers Series No. 79, pg 5. As the back covers of Wayne Chatterton & James H. Maguire's "Western Writers Series" pamphlets suggest, "This continuing series, primarily regional in nature, provides brief but authoritative introductions to the lives and works of authors who have written significant literature about the American West. As the cover of this particular volume suggests, Richard Brautigan is the singular focus of this issue. Richard Brautigan (January 30, 1935–October, 1984) was a literary titan whose works include: “Trout Fishing In America” (1967), “In Watermelon Sugar” (1968), “The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966” (1971), among many other works and poems. Brautigan, one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century, had a style that was notable for its epigrammatic nature, juxtaposing surreal images with mundane items and events, an uncertainty around the reliability of narrators while eschewing conventional character development. Boyer does one-part biography, and one-part critical analysis on Brautigan and his writing, presenting the man and his work in an easily digestible and concise way to readers of all types and ages. Chapbook-format booklet in stapled wrappers, first and only printing of this exquisite piece of scholarship. In Very fine condition with minute shelf-wear to fine edges. Very Fine. [Item #5637]

Price: $30.00