 First edition cover, showing Brautigan with his friend Hilda Hoffmann. | |
| Author | Richard Brautigan |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Edmund Shea |
| Language | English |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Four Seasons Foundation |
Publication date | June 14, 1968 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 138 |
| ISBN | 1-131-52372-5 |
| Preceded by | Trout Fishing in America (1967) |
| Followed by | Revenge of the Lawn (1971) |
In Watermelon Sugar is an American postmodern post-apocalyptic novel by Richard Brautigan written in 1964 and published in 1968.[1]
Set in the aftermath of a fallen civilization, it focuses on a commune organized around a central gathering house which is named "iDEATH". In this environment, many things are made of watermelon sugar (though the inhabitants also use pine wood and stone for building material and fuel made from trout oil). The landscape of the novel is constantly in flux; each day of the week has a different colored sun which creates different colored watermelons, and the central building also changes frequently. The novel's narrator, who is left unnamed, claims to be writing an investigative book on his experiences at iDEATH. Its first-person narrative is sparse and minimalist, granting the novel a detached and alien quality.
- ^ Gehr, Richard. "In Watermelon Sugar". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 16, 2017.