Richard Brautigan (1935-1984) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. His works use magical realism, satire, postmodernism, whimsy, and surrealism to touch on themes of isolation, nature, and absurdity in modern life.[1][2][3][4] His novel Trout Fishing in America (1967) first attracted international recognition and became closely associated with the countercultural movement of the 1960s.[5] While his popularity waned in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, he continued to be influential in Europe and Japan.[6] Brautigan published ten novels, including notable works like In Watermelon Sugar (1967) and The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966 (1971),, as well as ten poetry collections and two collections of short stories. A collection of various early writings given to a friend's mother was published posthumously, while another early short story remains unpublished. Since 1967, at least 485 translations of his work have been published in 40 languages.[7]