The Ghost of Richard Brautigan by William Hammett

The Ghost of Richard Brautigan is a novel by William Hammett published by Word Wrangler Publishing in March, 2015.  An earlier (and shorter) version of the book was published in 2000 under the title Salamander Illusions.

The book uses the same short-chapter format of the novels of Richard Brautigan.  It employs satire, dark humor, and a surrealistic style at times, although the plot is far more straightforward and accessible than any of Brautigan's novels, and the prose style itself does not demonstrate the elliptical quality of Brautigan's own prose.

In the novel, Lamont Bistro, a Gulf War vet and writing instructor, marries Bourbon Street exotic dancer Jaguar Montaigne.  He is forty-five; Jaguar is nineteen.  While the couple lives in Louisiana's Honey Island Swamp and conducts swamp tours, Bistro is visited on a regular basis by the ghost of Richard Brautigan, who gives him advice on writing as well as his personal life.

As the novel progresses, Brautigan challenges Bistro to write a novel about his young wife, snake-handling evangelicals, a swamp monster, Babe Ruth, Mount Kilimanjaro, a gaudy theme park called Gatorworld, a deity named Bob, junkyards, and the rock group Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

The characters in the novel are believable, yet they represent the eccentricities of a world that, in the course of the novel, is diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

As Bistro writes, however, the absurdity of his life situation causes him to wonder if he himself has become a character in a surrealistic novel by the late Richard Brautigan since Brautigan, during his ghostly visits, seems to be orchestrating much of the plot.

William Hammett is the author of numerous novels, short stories, and poetry.  His poetry has been published in numerous hard-copy literary journals around the country.  His short story "Orphans" about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was published in the Rose and Thorn Journal.  His other novels include Street Magic, John Lennon and the Mercy Street Café, Rimsky Rises (YA), and Circling Goes the Wind (middle reader).  One Good Thought is scheduled for publication later in 2015.  John Lennon and the Mercy Street Café has been taught in university course on magical realism.

Hammett is a freelance writer, editor, and ghostwriter, occasionally publishing under his own name.  He held editorial positions with various publications, wrote feature articles for New Orleans weekly newspapers, and taught writing and literature for twenty-two years at colleges and universities.

SITEMAP

Home
About
Index of Short Stories by William Hammett
Richard Brautigan
Ianthe Elizabeth Brautigan
Richard Brautigan Timeline
The Richard Brautigan Library
Articles on Richard Brautigan
Resources for Researching Richard Brautigan's Life and Work
The Prose Style of Richard Brautigan
Books about Richard Brautigan
The Novels of Richard Brautigan
The Short Stories of Richard Brautigan
Poetry Collections by Richard Brautigan
The Uncollected Poetry of Richard Brautigan
The Unpublished Poetry of Richard Brautigan
The Ghost of Richard Brautigan
William Hammett
Contact