A Confederate General from Big Sur

Brautigan’s excellent novel is definitely worth the quick read, then worth another to catch all his language play. Having grown up near Big Sur, this book was particularly funny as Lee Mellon is still in residence there.

Brautigan’s descriptions of drugs, drinks, frogs & the commas of Ecclesiastes are all done in a straightforward style. A favorite paragraph:
“He broke the seal on the bottle, unscrewed the cap & poured a big slug of whiskey into his mouth. He swallowed it down with a hairy gulp. Strange, for as I said before: he was bald.” A great read.

If there’s one thing the world lacks, it’s a good supply of well-written, funny-as-heck books. Luckily, aside from A Confederacy Of Dunces, we have this little gem. The characters are drunks, druggies, skanks, prostitutes & nutzoids. The pace is brisk, the imagry vivid. Most of it seemed to be part of my own life, but just where do you find weed that’s so potent that 4 people smoking 5 joints stay high for well over 2 hours?

If you want to spend a day or night having a good laugh over a great book, pick this one up. You’ll laugh out loud. As Martha Stewart says, “it’s a good thing”.