Trout Fishing in America cover art

Trout Fishing in America

A Novel

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Trout Fishing in America

By: Richard Brautigan
Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
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About this listen

In its first time in audio and with an introduction written and read by poet Billy Collins, Trout Fishing in America is an indescribable romp, by turns a hilarious, playful, and melancholy novel that wanders from San Francisco through America's culture.

Richard Brautigan's world is one of gentle magic and marvelous laughter, of the incredibly beautiful and the beautifully incredible. Trout Fishing in America is a pseudonym for the miraculous. A journey that begins at the foot of the Benjamin Franklin statue in San Francisco's Washington Square, that wanders through the wonders of America's rural waterways, and that ends, inevitably, with mayonnaise. Funny, wild, and sweet, Trout Fishing in America is an incomparable guidebook to the delights of exploration - both of land and mind.

Richard Brautigan was a literary idol of the 1960s and 1970s whose comic genius and iconoclastic vision of American life caught the imagination of young people everywhere. His early books became required reading for the hip generation, and on its publication Trout Fishing in America, considered by many as his best novel, became an international best seller. With it Brautigan caught the public's attention and became a cult hero. By 1970 Trout Fishing in America had become the namesake of a commune, a free school, an underground newspaper, and more.

©2016 Richard Brautigan (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Absurdist Dark Humour Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Fiction Comedy Funny Fishing Witty San Francisco
All stars
Most relevant
Read this years ago, loved it and went on to check out other books by Brautigan. Some better than others but never less than engaging and always beautifully written. I'm yet to read a better Brautigan than this one though.

Given the highly poetic quality of his prose, I was curious to hear how it transferred from page to air. I find it loses a little because the mental space between word and image he plays within is so visual that the shape of the language on the page is a significant absence in the audiobook version. That said, the music of the narrative comes across nicely enough to compensate pretty well.

What a remarkably original voice. A new consciousness brought to fiction. No wonder he seemed to be for the 60s what Kerouac had been for the previous decade. Of course it goes upstream and down but forget the idea that this is stream-of-consciousness stuff or a quirky variant of literary surrealism. Neither is it clunky cut-up. Influences yes, but this is a brilliantly composed work of fiction. Free and fresh as sun in a jar.

For me, the novel has all the depth and grace of The great Gatsby and is as perfectly a reflection of the America of its decade as Fitzgerald's masterpiece remains for the Twenties. I think its fluid, facetted perspective is more original though.

An advantage of this audiobook edition is that it contains an excellent forward by Billy Collins in praise of a stone classic. He got to read the manuscript in San Francisco back in '65 two years before publication and puts its counter-cultural impact in context.

If you are new to Brautigan my advice would be to start here. Forget the hype and just relax. Keep an open vista, settle back and enjoy the look and feel of the ride. Pretty soon you may well find yourself admiring the exquisite detailing, plush finish and lighter-than-helium heaviosity of this lovely trout.

Then you may want to experience the hard-copy. Accept no substitute for the feel of the look of the words.

Trout in the Kool-aid

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I enjoyed this one and found it entertaining and also an interesting experience.
There is something about it that makes me want to carry on listening that is hard to describe. However, the length of the book is short, which works well as it may become boring if longer. It is more like an experience than a story, and the experience goes on long enough.

Something different

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Somewhat absurd, but very enjoyable! If you enjoy books like Catch 22 and Cats Cradle this might be for you.

Everyone likes a good fishing story

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Having just read Dreaming of Babylon, I was full of anticipation and expectation as I was about to begin the first 'novel' of Richard Brautigan, and even more so after hearing the introduction read and written by Billy Colins.
But I was disappointed..

A novella, really, at under three and a half hours and excellently read performed by Chris Andrew Ciulla, Trout Fishing in America is comprised of a random series of vignettes and anecdotes without a discernable theme, and is sardonic, surprising, amusing and sometimes downright silly. But increasingly tedious as the book progresses.
And written and published by a poet in the 1960s. That explains a lot.

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"Coffin sized Christmas trees."

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Old Skool stuff that doesn’t stultify
Brautigan’s writing has genuine charm
Multiple layers of meaning that is even a little autobiographical
+ he personifies the title and it becomes surreal
FUN

Playful Americana

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