You Can't Catch Death: A Daughter's Memoir

In an effort to reconcile memories, dreams and fears with real life, Ianthe Brautigan writes of her life with father, Richard Brautigan. After he took his own life in 1984, she was left with memories and what-ifs. This book is her journey into remembering and discovering her father and his life. Within the pages of this book lies a healing journey, back to the terrible drinking times, back to the grandmother she never knew, back to treasured morinings at her father's San Francisco apartment, and other times shared with her father. Photos capture the fragments of that life, and let us glimpse again at the shy, wild-haired Brautigan. Somewhere in facing down deamons and fears of this past life, I feel she somehow reclaims her own life and is no longer afraid of the future. This book had a powerful impact on me. The story of a daughter trying to gather the pieces of her life and to set them out to study, is a portrait of courage and grace.

My first Richard Brautigan work was "Trout Fishing In America" which I read in the late 60s. I was -- and still am -- enchanted by his poetic visions of life. There is something very pure and absolutely wonderful in the way he wrote. For the next several years, I made it a point to seek out his books whenever I visited bookstores. Then, in the mid-70s, life became busy with family and work, and I lost touch with this sensitive poet and his little books of sparkling wit and beauty. In May 2000, I unpacked a box and found again Brautigan's beauty books that had been packed away for the preceding 25 year or so. I stopped unpacking, went outside, sat down beneath a tree, and read the books I had of his again -- "Trout Fishing In America", "In Watermelon Sugar" (my favorite), "The Pill Versus The Sprinhill Disaster", and "Rommel Drives On Deep Into Egypt". The sweet memories of his writings flooded back to me -- here was a truly sensitive soul so full of music and poetry, a unique way of seeing the world, and a beautiful way of expressing it. My interest rekindled, I wanted to find all the books I had missed of his in the intervening years, and learned of his suicide in 1984... I discovered his daughter's book, and read the story of her father through her eyes. It's also a book about herself, about her coming to grips with the tragedy and terrible pain of her father's death, about her journey to Oregon to see her father's mother and come to grips with the poor and abusive boyhood that Richard had kept hidden from his family. We see Richard Brautigan and come to know him as the sensitive, troubled, eloquent, and deeply beautiful soul he was, and we hear it through his daughter's tenderness and love. Yes, I'm sure Richard would be very proud of his daughter -- and very happy too. I truly hope we hear more from Ianthe. She has her father's gift of poetry and expression, and she has her own voice.

I love this book. It is as painful to read as going to the funeral of a friend or a writer whose work you loved. It is as rewarding as the grieving process. We've been wondering about Brautigan's daughter, the girl with the stange name, Ianthe, and this book of hers lets us know all about her. This memoir she has taken so long to write suggests she has struggled to find her own voice, as a writer, and I am happy to report that her father's style has influenced her enormously. That's a very good thing. I will look forward to the publication of the next Brautigan and I will be as sad it is not by Richard as I am happy it is by his daughter, Ianthe. Write a novel, Ianthe, write short stories and short short stories, too. We'll be waiting patiently for you.

This is a must read for any fan of Brautigan. Ianthe has put together a book that sheds a very revealing light on her life with her father, her willingnes to cope, his alcoholism, use of his talent and fishing. I enjoyed her comments and insight into the fishing stories, the observations of the scenery, the wilderness and feeling the life of her father's past. Her trip to Eugene, OR is a spiritually challenging and moving portion of the book. Literally following his footsteps, in more ways than one, this book is on a shelf in my library with all of her daddy's first editions. I am proud and thrilled, I'm sure he would be too!

Although I began reading You Can't Catch Death with the expectation that it would be about her father, Ianthe Brautigan quickly set me straight; this book is about her. Reading the book provides a fascinating look at her turbulent childhood with a talented, but troubled father. A father who clearly loved his daughter but, just as clearly, didn't quite know what to do with her.Brautigan the younger is a skilled wordsmith whose first book displays a polish and readability usually associated with more `seasoned' authors. Whether or not you appreciate Richard Brautigan, after reading this book you will appreciate his daughter.