Rating: 
Summary: Far Better Than Expected
Review: -
Ianthe Brautigan stays on target throughout her memoir -- as the daughter of Richard Brautigan, and the daughter of a father who killed himself. Brautigan turns out to be an articulate author, and she expresses her feelings very openly. I feel callous saying that this is an enlightening read for R. Brautigan fans, because much of I. Brautigan's drive derives from her troubled feelings about him. But the book is also a biography of her father, the ways he lived (as well as the way he died, which is vividly described). While reading, I felt it was a reliable biography, from the POV of someone very close to him, who understood him, and had her own experiences with respect to growing up his daughter; it was a reliable/subjective biography, which turned out to have merits of its own that an outsider can't match -- for better or worse. What it loses in objectivity, it more than overcomes.
No doubt I. Brautigan has had many other life experiences too, but very impressively she keeps to her misssion to tell the story of her father, his life, his death, her relationship to and evolving feelings about it. I did not expect it to be as well-done as it is. Kudos, as well as my sympathy to the author who indeed had an unfortunate and difficult time due to his suicide. Regarding R. Brautigan, fans will appreciate her anectodes and stories, despite their coming from the place they do -- of having to learn that she can not "catch death."
Rating: 
Summary: Sensitive and moving memoir
Review: A lot of this memoir, written by Richard Brautigan's daughter, though charming in tone, is pretty much skimmable. What's interesting, however, are the descriptions of her father's writing room, particularly in San Francisco in the 1960s-70s on Geary Street and the surrounding vicinity. There are wonderful descriptions of the writing room with its typewriter and art hanging on the walls, such as the pencil drawing of a bus with real Lincoln penny heads as passengers and a picture of an ancient Colt pistol. And who can forget the small Buddhist shrine, the oak table with the stained rings of coffee cups, and the the back porch with those stacked piles of the San Francisco Chronicle. Like any good writer, Brautigan couldn't throw away a day's newspaper without going through it completely. This memoir also has some nice depictions of cabin life in Montana, and there as some interesting old black-white photos of Brautigan. Check out page 71 with it's picture of the ranch house kitchen and the bullet holes on the wall in the shape of a clock.--Alex Sydorenko, Chicago, 2001.
Rating:
Summary: This is Not Her Father's Story
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Brautigan's Daughter Finds Her Voice
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: More about her than him, but good
Review: Ianthe is the daughter of Richard Brautigan, although this book is more her personal story of overcoming her father's suicide than a biography of him. I would have preferred the latter. Still, you get a good, if incomplete portrait of Richard Brautigan through the eyes of the person closest to him. You get to know his multi-faceted personality, including his tragic drinking habit, but never understand his life or what drove him to suicide (nobody, including his daughter, knows). Some great stories about the last of the beats. I think my favorite was when he sat with a friend in his Montana cabin and shot out the hours on the clock, each hour on the hour, with his handgun.
Rating:
Summary: What a beautiful, beautiful book
Review: Ianthe's book knocked me out. Her writing is powerful, her images vivid. She has captured moments from her life with her father that are memorable and revealing. I don't understand how another reviewer at this site said that the pictures aren't relevant. They truly added to the experience for me. And after all, they're family snapshots, not studio portraits. The same reviewer said that the book was awfully depressing and graphic... if you're writing about suicide, it's hard not to be. However, Ianthe is able to remember many magical moments with her dad, and these help to create a memoir that is just as joyous as it is sad.
Rating:
Summary: What A Lovely Memoir
Review: Ianthe's first book is perfectly lovely. It achieves just the right tone in eulogizing, mourning and seeking after her father -- respectful without being overweening, comic without being self-conscious, and truthful without giving the upper hand to either her father's talent or his problems. I'm sure her father would have loved the book -- but then it would be a different book if he'd lived, wouldn't it? There are a fair number of poetic images worthy of a Brautigan -- the rain becomes Richard's tears, a typewriter is left unplugged to keep her father from temptation, her father's ashes remain unburied for reasons you'll have to read about -- but there are also stretches of Ianthe's unique voice, her level-headedness and practicality -- traits which seem to have skipped her father's generation. There are many chapters so quotable I've already sent them to my writer-friends. There are images so poignant that I'm crying now just remembering them. And there are laughs to alleviate the hurt. A marvelous first work. I hope she has several more stories to tell.
Rating:
Summary: A daughter's touching tribute
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A daughter's touching tribute
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for Richard Brautigan fans
Review: This is an absolutely riveting portrait of Richard Brautigan and a must-read for anyone who has enjoyed Richard's work in the past. While reading it, I had to keep reminding myself that this is not a piece of fiction. This is the real story of Richard Brautigan, and in some ways not so different from the fictional character we came to love in his novels. On top of that, this is a fascinating tale of father and daughter living through extraordinary circumstances together, and her triumph over the tragedy of his death.
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