Willard and His Bowling Trophies: A Perverse Mystery

There are some unfortunate souls who just don't find Brautigan the least bit funny, but for the rest of us, this book is a MUST READ.

i just cannot express how much i loved this book. and the thing is that to love a book like this is kind of a weird thing to admit. simply because it is so very sad and a real honest to goodness representation of what horrrible love lives we are living. those in love are more miserable than those who are floating around missing one another at every turn.it is a fantastic reminder that life is too short and that we must give all of ourselves to the moment and seek happiness.

Maybe I'm missing the point, but this seems to be a book written purely as an exercise in language and prose masquerading as poetry. The subject matter and plot are bizzare, but the language they are presented in make the book a real masterpiece.This is the first book I read by Richard Brautigan, and I have since made it a point of reading everything I can get my hands on that he wrote.

If Willard can win Bowling Trophies, then Brautigan deserves a posthumous Pulitzer, Nobel Prize and every other literary award under the sun. While this book has never garnered the sort of praise, let alone commercial success of his first published novel "Confederate General From Big Sur" or "Trout Fishing In America," this book, this small, humble book about a bird, high crimes and genital warts, deserves more hype. Brautigan's play of emotions, blending humor with sorrow and melancholy shows the true bredth of his talent. Both as a poet and as a novelist, he understood the value and economy of words and spent them wisely. He never saw the need to write an opus of Michener weight, instead, he let the strength and beauty of his prose do the work. Each syllable bears more meaning than whole chapters of Grisham or other modern-day hacks. Willard may not seem so great a work to those seeking expansive commentary on the state of society or meaning of life, but they likely miss those points in Brautigan's work, as they are blended ever so subtly within his writing. I defy anyone to read this book and not be moved, to not feel pain at its ending. Like Milan Kundera, Brautigan's character's matter.

Richard Brautigan's "Willard and His Bowling Trophies" is an interesting book about some very strange people. I didn't think it was as good as a few of his other works, but I did feel that given the time period in Brautigan's life and the amount of fiction already written by him, this book was definately worthy of publication. Brautigan's talent for creating strange, yet realistic characters really stands out in this story, and the decriptions of his character's lives and troubles, creates a memorable novel. I don't think Brautigan ever lost his touch, no matter where his soul took him, and this book is a good example of his unique sence of irony