BRAUTIGAN, RICHARD

born Jan. 30, 1933, Tacoma, Wash., U.S. died , before Oct. 25, 1984, Bolinas, Calif. in full Richard Gary Brautigan American writer of pastoral, whimsical, often surreal works popular among readers in the counterculture of the 1960s and '70s. Brautigan's humorous first novel, A Confederate General from Big Sur, was published in 1964. His second novel, Trout Fishing in America (1967), a commentary on the state of nature in contemporary America, sold two million copies, and its title was adopted as the name of several American communes. Brautigan's novels are usually short and feature passive protagonists whose innocence shields them from the moral consequences of their actions. His later novels include In Watermelon Sugar (1968), The Abortion: An Historical Romance, 1966 (1971), The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western (1974), Dreaming of Babylon: A Private Eye Novel, 1942 (1977), and The Tokyo-Montana Express (1979). Brautigan also published a short-story collection, Revenge of the Lawn: Stories, 19621970 (1971), and several poetry collections. His death was an apparent suicide.