American fiction writer and poet who published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan’s work has been published both in the United States and internationally throughout Europe, Japan, and China. He is best known for his novels Trout Fishing in America (1967), In Watermelon Sugar (1968) and The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966 (1971).
Brautigan had a difficult childhood, spent mostly in poverty. His parents separated when he was an infant and he gained several half-siblings through his mother’s partnerships with different men.
At age 20 he was committed to the Oregon State Hospital, on 24 December 1955, after police noticed patterns of erratic behaviour. At the hospital Brautigan was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and clinical depression, and was treated with electroconvulsive therapy 12 times.
Brautigan began his career as a poet, with his first collection being published in 1957. He made his debut as a novelist with A Confederate General from Big Sur (1964), about a seemingly delusional man who believes himself to be the descendant of a Confederate general from Big Sur. Brautigan would go on to publish numerous prose and poetry collections until 1982.
Brautigan married and divorced twice. With his first wife he had a daughter, Ianthe Elizabeth Brautigan, born on 25 March 1960 in San Francisco. She became a noted writer.
Richard Brautigan died of a self-inflicted .44 Magnum gunshot wound to the head. His decomposed body was found on 25 October 1984. Due to the decomposition of the body it is speculated that Brautigan had ended his life over a month earlier, on 16 September 1984 (neighbours heard a loud noise that Sunday while watching an NFL game). He was 49.
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