The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan

The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western is a novel by Richard Braitigan.  It was published in September of 1974.

The story takes place in 1902 Oregon.  The two main characters are Cameron and Greer, both gunmen.  The book does have a definite plot, but the story almost defies summary because of its surrealistic nature.  The gunmen travel from Hawaii to a house on the western plains of America at the request of Magic Child, a twin sister of Miss Hawkline, who lives in the western house.  A monster is created by Miss Hawkline's father, a Harvard scientist, who has been working on a project called The Chemicals.  The father mysteriously disappears.  The Chemicals produce lights that fly around the house: the monster, which also robs the gunmen of their memories.  Cameron pours whiskey on The Chemicals, destroying the monster, the house, and returning the father to a human being.  (He had been changed by The Chemicals into an umbrella basket.)

Filmmaker Hal Ashby wished to make the book into a movie and considered Jack Nicholson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Jeff Bridges for leading roles.  Brautigan wrote a screenplay that Ashby rejected.  Later, director Tim Burton wanted to adapt the novel for the screen, with Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson in starring roles.  When Eastwood and Nicholson abandoned the project, Burton quit as well.

~William Hammett

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