Overview

This catalog provides classification and curation information for growing number of unpublished manuscripts in The Brautigan Library's Digital Collection. Manuscripts are listed in order of their acquisition into the collection, beginning with most recent and working backward to the first. Collection and categorization information is provided for each manuscript. Links provide reading opportunities for each manuscript.

Collection Information

These manuscripts were submitted in digital format to The Brautigan Library after its move to Vancouver, Washington, in 2010. A new category, "DIG" (Digital) was created for the Mayonnaise System to accomodate these manuscripts. The Mayonnaise System, a classification system developed for The Brautigan Library. Manuscripts are cataloged according to general categories, the year of submission, and the order of acquisition into the category. For example, DIG 2013.005 indicates the manuscript was the fifth one cataloged in 2013 to the DIG category. Manuscript synopses were provided by authors at time of submission. Librarian's Comments and samples from the beginning of the manuscripts provide additional information.

Manuscripts in DIG category = 40
2022 = 4 manuscripts
2021 = 2 manuscripts
2020 = 9 manuscripts
2019 = 18 manuscripts
2018 = 1 manuscript
2017 = 1 manuscript
2013 = 5 manuscripts

Manuscripts 2022

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 4
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 4

Two Banknotes

Jacques Depierreux
MS #355
DIG 2022.004
Registered 22 June 2022 by The Librarian
READ Two Bank Notes

Author's Synopsis
My daughter asked me to write a short essay on a topic of my choice. So I chose to write about two dollar bills I won in Las Vegas that were forgotten in my wallet when I returned from California (where my daughter lives). I try to explain in a futile text my feelings about gambling as an adult and what it means in relation to childhood games. Is gambling a time to regress to childhood?

Beginning
In my wallet there are two banknotes on which it is written: "The United States of America", "In God we trust" and many other Latin formulas which do not evoke anything to me like this formula which proclaims loudly "Annuit Cœptis" or this one "Novus Ordo Seclorum" arranged in phylactery under the image of a pyramid surmounted by an eye which is itself inscribed in a luminescent triangle if one believes the rays drawn all around symbolizing a light source.

Librarian's Comments
This is the first submission by Jacques Depierreux, of Creteil, France. Written in French, Depierreux used DeepL.com for this translation. When he submitted this Brautigan-length short story, Depierreux said, "I have been writing (in French) for years and never had the ambition to be published. However, since I have known about The Brautigan Library, a few years ago, I have always had the desire to send something to be published." His story, "Two Bank Notes," is a portal to many other stories. It's interesting and insightful.

The Tender Mercantile Company

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #354
DIG 2022.003
Registered 21 June 2022 by The Librarian
READ The Tender Mercantile Company

Author's Synopsis
A local mercantile company becomes the scene for strange happenings, etc.

Beginning
It was a night like this when I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. After a heated discussion with my parents concerning ignorance being one of our most precious freedoms, I broke the news that I didn’t want to leave home at eighteen years of age. I suppose telling them that I didn’t realize that doing nothing was as much fun as I had learned that it was didn’t go over too well.

Librarian's Comments
Lenny L. Leonard has contributed several manuscripts to the Library's collection: Cracked Canyon, Title by Default, Snot Lake, Moose, The Shane Dougherty Story, Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee, and Almost Like Texas. Some have been transformed into podcasts. This one he very kindly dedicated "To The Brautigan Library." For Brautigan fans he included two recent photographs of Edna Webster's house. Whether it was this blue when Richard Brautigan lived there I don't know.

Chin Up And Hopeful

Leah Margulies Roland
MS #353
DIG 2022.002
Registered 1 May 2022 by The Librarian
READ Chin Up and Hopeful

Author's Synopsis
This is the autobiography of Leah Margulies Roland, 1930-2020. The youngest child of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Ms. Roland shares her life experiences and challenges as a first generation women navigating the cultural, social, and political world of New York City; A first person account of growing up during the Great Depression, losing family in the Holocaust, navigating the world of work, marriage, and parenting from the post war era to the 1970s. She was deeply dedicated to her family, a beloved friend of many, a writer, an antique dealer, and autodidact in many areas including the English Arts & Crafts Movement, a teacher and advocate for progressive education, and much more. Ms. Roland was that rare political person who acted both locally and nationally. Her activism began early. She loved literature and language, but academics took a backseat to politics. She was an organizer and member of socialist student groups in high school and in college. She first participated in national politics during the 1948 presidential election, working to get Henry Wallace, the Progressive Party candidate, the Democratic nomination. Perhaps if she had been old enough to vote he would have won. Ms. Roland marched for Civil Rights numerous years in numerous states, too many she would say. She saved clippings from the Paul Robeson concert she attended in Peekskill in 1949. She was one of the concert-goers hit by rocks by protesters of the peaceful Pro-Civil Rights, Pro-Union concert. Her last march on Washington was in 2018. She was powerfully moved by the anti-gun violence movement spearheaded by students who organized the March for our Lives. Worker’s rights, anti-HUAC, civil rights, women’s rights, anti-war, pro-choice, LGBTQ+, pro-immigration and sanctuary, environmental action, health care for all. Ms. Roland was a fierce voice, an eloquent writer and speaker, and a mega-phone for social justice. What she had that was so remarkable was stamina and unending generosity to the people and causes she cared about.

Beginning
Do what you love.
Fight hard and loudly for what's important.
There is no occasion too small for your best jewelry.
Some people stop growing up at a very early age, and it is not attractive.
You always love the puppy you take home (don't agonize so much over decisions).
There is no such thing as too much hot fudge or whipped cream.
Always try on the dress (If you see something you love, try it out. Either the reality doesn't hold up to the fantasy, or it does and it's almost always worth the cost).
Life is a series of trade-offs.
That's what makes a horse race (differences of opinion are necessary and good).

Librarian's Comments
Many memoirs are collected in The Brautigan Library. This one, by Leah Margulies Roland, is one of the most powerful. Immigrant, wife, mother, political person, activist for worker's rights, civil rights, women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, Ms. Roland promoted pro-choice, immigration and sanctuary, environmental action, health care for all, and social justice.

Chin Up And Hopeful was submitted to The Brautigan Library by Jessica Roland, daughter of Leah Margulies Roland. Jessica said this when submitted her Mother's manuscript, "I am so delighted to have Chin Up And Hopeful join the library. It is my mother's autobiography, which she bequeathed to me. I found [Richard Brautigan's] The Abortion as a teen in the 1980s, and loved it. I've read it many, many times in addition to so many other Brautigan works. In the early 1990s, I worked in Vermont during the summers and happened upon the library there! I browsed the stacks a number of times. Magic. I am so grateful that the library still exists. Thank you so much for being its guardian."

Mercy In Love

Youngbear Roth
(Los Angeles, CA, USA)
MS #352
DIG 2022.001
Registered 3 April 2022 by The Librarian
READ Mercy In Love

Author's Synopsis
Mercy In Love is a group of five novels—219000 words— which group’s fundamental theme is love; an infinite condition creation holds within its breast, speaking to us with compassion; universal love. Each novel is like a chocolate brownie—short but rich, and like a chocoholic you will want another one. The volumes are multi-cultural, character driven, and often linked to metaphysical concepts and current events. The underlying elements are philosophically Eastern, such as Zen or Taoism, written in a Western voice for a Western audience. The author's prose is unsparingly honest. Mercy In Love fits well in literary, inspirational, and literary leaning towards mainstream. Additionally, using an angel as a strong constant protagonist to alter the mundane reality of life can be speculative and mysterious fantasy in fiction without being dark; in such a respect, a significant portion of this work is positive speculative fantasy. The prose flavors are poetic, jazz, and metropolitan.

Librarian's Comments
Youngbear Roth submitted this large novel earlier this year. It is five volumes, 219,000 words, ambitious, extensive, focused on love. It's just me, the one Librarian, working here and so it's taken some time to add this large work to the library's collection. But that's done and Mercy In Love is ready for reading and contemplation. Enjoy.

Manuscripts 2021

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 2
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 2

L'année du Serpent D'eau [The Year of the Water Snake]

Carla Demierre
(Switzerland)
MS #351
DIG 2021.002
Registered 30 March 2021 by The Librarian
READ L'année du serpent d'eau [The Year of the Water Snake]

Author's Synopsis
A woman (Varvara) brings the ashes of her mother (Belén) to her grandmother (Dora). The action takes place in an apartment in Buenos Aires. There is a kind of swap between the granddaughter and her grandmother. A story in exchange of ashes. The story is told like a puzzle box through fragments and documents (recordings, photographs, postcards, letters). In this family, everyone suffers from chronic geographical dispersion (exile, separation, abandonment). Constantly interrupted by a memory gap, a domestic imperative, a ghost appearance or an irruption of great History, the conversation between the grandmother and the granddaughter re-enacts behind closed doors the transmission problems that characterize their family. "Faced with the impossibility of transmitting, we must reborn!" This could be the motto of these people who over several generations keep moving, always traveling light and each time leaving behind their belongings minus a few photographs. One story seems to repeat itself endlessly: that of exile and homesickness. The rebirth of oneself, happy or unhappy, on another land and in another language. Born in Argentina, Dora is of Jewish Eastern European heritage, a diaspora that populated the pampas at the turn of the 20th century. A generation later, she left the country for good with her children, fleeing the military dictatorship established in 1976. Raised in a modest environment and quite conservative with her girls education, Dora nonetheless studied medicine. Initially aspiring to become a pediatrician, she became interested in politics and psychoanalysis. At university, she meets Gomez, with whom she will have three children. The "conversation's cactus" like she called him, is an unsolved mystery for all. If we stick to the photographs, we would have to say: he had an American car and a microscope, had very long legs and very long arms. We know, however, that Gomez was indifferent to politics, a great fan of literature and soccer, a man who in peacetime chose to leave Argentina and his children to start a new life in North America. The reason given for his departure is in itself an enigma: Feeling cramped in South America, he hoped to find in North America a country (costumes and shoes) to suit him.

Librarian's Comments
This manuscript is written in French, but Demierre provides a thorough abstract to help people understand her story. She also provide these comments.

"This manuscript is a personal story. That is to say, it is based on memories, on family photographs and on conversations over the phone with my grandmother over a few years following her eldest daughter's death. Her narrative was elliptical and sizzling, the family photographs I own are damaged and for most of them, unexplained. Actually, I have no confidence in my memory. Still, I decided to tell a story out of this unreliable and shabby material. Conversations and other events have been recreated by the imagination, speculated on the basis of my questions, crossed over with other stories, trying to reach actual words and facts but I don't pretend this text is an exact representation of them.

"Sometimes doing something with your own story is telling another story, more or less related. So, please consider this text as a mock-up that might (you never know) come in handy for ghost hunting, communicating with your mother, organizing a funeral, preparing a family meal, finding an unknown grandfather, learning a foreign language or doing something nice with family photographs.

"Last week, as I was reflecting on the particularly bumpy journey of an unpublished manuscript of mine. This manuscript has been refused or provisionally accepted so many times that it feels like it deserves to retire now. I may have made it up for myself, but I believe that Brautigan said a book (or a poem) doesn't have to be perfect, as life itself isn't perfect. This conviction has continued to guide my writing choices, echoing Robert Filliou's idea that "art is what makes life more interesting than art." This way of seeing explains why I like so much the Brautigan Library project. That's why I would be honored if you agreed to include it in the collection."

Cracked Canyon

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #350
DIG 2021.001
Registered 1 Jan. 2021 by The Librarian
READ Cracked Canyon

Author's Synopsis
A toothpaste factory on a dreamy dry lake bed. A peaceful and quiet lifestyle changes with the theft of company property and the introduction of a loss prevention officer and the arrival of a sophisticated southern belle with court papers.

Beginning
We always sat down on the berm overlooking the dry lake to eat our lunch. We always called it lunch no matter what time of day or night we were eating. Once we worked four rotating shifts but now there was only one shift left. The 50 employees we once had were reduced to 12.

When the silver tankers came up from Taluka, TubeWorks would recall about 25 workers on temporary assignment for 89 days and then lay them off. That was enough time to place the eight tankers worth of toothpaste into the tubes that we still manufactured at TubeWorks.

Librarian's Comments
Lenny L. Leonard was eager to submit the first manuscript for 2021 to The Brautigan Library. He was here (virtually) very early this morning and we talked about his newest story. A toothpaste factory on a dry lake bed seems appropriate as a setting for the year we have just had. "I've started what I expect to be a productive winter of writing. The next one is tentatively titled Once You Make Peace With The Rain," Leonard said. Lenny L. Leonard has contributed several manuscripts to the Library's collection: Title by Default, Snot Lake, Moose, The Shane Dougherty Story, Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee, and Almost Like Texas. Some have been transformed into podcasts.

Manuscripts 2020

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 9
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 9

Letters to Richard Brautigan

Andrei Mocuța
(Romania)
MS #349
DIG 2020.009
Registered 9 Oct 2020 by The Librarian
READ Letters to Richard Brautigan

Author's Synopsis
A collection of letters to Richard Brautigan. Imaginary, but not quite. Subtle, with a hint of humor, honest, spontaneous, unpretentious, nostalgic, admonitory, but also full of questions. Written originally in Romanian, translated into English. Both translations available.

Beginning
In the first episode of the fourth season of Mornin’ Poets, we read some of Richard Brautigan's poems and we wrote him letters. Imaginary, but not quite. Subtle, with a hint of humor, honest, spontaneous, unpretentious, nostalgic, admonitory, but also full of questions. Some of this workshop's students mimicked perfectly Brautigan's style, others on the contrary, disregarded altogether. This experiment's biggest gain is that the result is not an admiration exercise, but a dialogue truly alive, which you can read it below. (Andrei Mocutța)

Librarian's Comments
Andrei first contacted The Brautigan Library 11 September 2020. He introduced himself as a "Romanian writer of fiction and a huge fan of Richard Brautigan." He also said he had earned a PhD degree with a dissertation on American author J.D. Salinger. He teaches a poetry class called Mornin’ Poets where he shared poetry by Richard Brautigan with his students. One assignment was for students to write letters to Brautigan. Andrei gathered these poems, translated them into English and submitted them to The Brautigan Library. It is a very interesting collection and we are happy to share it as part of the Library's collection.

Born of the Boldest Sun

Meredith M. McCann
MS #348
DIG 2020.008
Registered 18 July 2020 by The Librarian
READ Born of the Boldest Sun

Author's Synopsis
This is a curious short story based loosely on a dream about a mysterious old woman and a young man.

Beginning
The old woman fed us rotted food. She'd been dead for decades. She had a hole in the wall just outside her kitchen. Peering out at the clouds or up into the stars—she held onto whatever nugget of life she could find. The old woman, herself, was not in such good shape. Her tattered clothes had been eaten by mice gathered in the doorway, hoping for some scraps. We always felt uncomfortable in the evenings, asking to leave. There was something about her. She reminded me of an aching feeling at night when you've been alone too long in the dark.

Librarian's Comments
Meredith McCann submitted this short story after learning about The Brautigan Library. It's a pleasure to share Meredith's writing in this way.

Letters From An Elderly GentleWoman

Luke Neubecker
MS #347
DIG 2020.007
Registered 27 June 2020 by The Librarian
READ Letters From An Elderly GentleWoman

Author's Synopsis
This a collection of stories and poems.

Beginning
I was never born
I missed the Colonization of Mars
I missed getting the flu
I missed dying of a heart attack
at 62.

I was never born
I will never die.

Librarian's Comments
Luke Neubecker described himself as an associate librarian and English tutor in Cleveland, Ohio. "Richard Brautigan was one of my writing inspirations when I began writing in my early twenties. I too liked to think about everyday things in a slightly different way, and the effectiveness of his short, prose poem-like style, gave me confidence that this was a style that worked."

Lonely Men and the Games They Play

Zachary Schechter
(Woodmere, New York)
MS #346
DIG 2020.006 Registered 15 May 2020 by The Librarian
READ Lonely Men and the Games They Play

Author's Synopsis
This manuscript contains four short stories about different kinds of lonely men and the beautiful and tragic and dangerous ways they cope with that loneliness.

Beginning
The man who calls himself "Captain Bill Adventure" is certainly a peculiar one in my own very humble opinion. Every morning he arrives (and I say "arrive" though I am not entirely certain that he ever actually leaves) at the port and gets up on his old wooden crate and calls for "likeminded men to join him on a quest to scour the seven seas in search of adventure." He always wears the same ridiculous outfit which can only be described as the most over the top pirate's costume ever thrown together. A sky blue coat with over inflated sleeves, faded gold buttons and an unexplained tear over his right breast pocket, an overtly floppy and equally blue pirate's hat with an image of a wave in its center in place of the traditional skull and crossbones, wrinkled pants that I'm told at one point were a breath-taking white but through the years have become irreversibly dirty and a rubber cutlass that hangs in a scabbard from his hip.

Librarian's Comments
The four stories in this collection are titled
"The Stranger"
"Marvin the Immortal"
"The Life and Times of an Unquantifiably Powerful Being"
"Rules of the Game"

All are good reading while self-isolating from corona virus.

About this submission, Schechter wrote, "This a collection of four short stories that I wrote throughout my high school and college career. They tell the often tragic but occasionally hopeful and magical stories of four different lonely men and the ways they cope with, or ignore, their loneliness. I am submitting these stories to be archived as I approach both, the end of my formal schooling, and the end of my own bachelorhood as I am graduating and then getting married in just a few weeks. The archiving of these stories represents me marking the end of the most formative era of my life so far as I look forward to the future."

So You Want to be a Superhero, How Noble of You, Volume 1

Zachary Schechter
(Woodmere, New York)
MS #345
DIG 2020.005 Registered 15 May 2020 by The Librarian
READ So You Want to be a Superhero . . .

Author's Synopsis
This manuscript contains volume 1 of So You Want to be a Superhero, How Noble of You, the complete guide to being a superhero. In volume 1, would be superheroes will learn everything they need to know about starting out and finding their place in an increasingly strange word. Featuring topics such as costumes, codenames, and what to do if you have lame superpowers, So You Want to be a Superhero breaks complicated concepts for new superheroes with helpful tips and hilarious jokes.

Beginning
So, you've woken up one day with an intense desire to start saving the world and the few billion people who live in it. Good for you! That's very noble of you. Now you and every single child who has ever opened up a comic book and gone to the movies have something in common. Congratulations! Lucky for you though, you have something that those children don't. You have this handy dandy guide right here. The children don't have that. They probably can't even read. Before you start committing acts of grand heroism and derring-do it's important to acknowledge that the average person is simply not cut out for this kind of thing. Superheroing is dangerous. You can die. Without this guide you'll definitely die. Hands down. Most superheroes worth their salt have some kind of superpower, or, at the very least, enough money that such things don't matter. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's safe to assume that you have neither superhuman abilities nor an infinite fortune, you poor, mortal, soul you. So that means the first thing we have to address is how to acquire super powers.

Librarian's Comments
I would love to come out of this corona virus situation with a superpower! Maybe more than one. Superpowers! Yes, that sounds good. With the long days, and nights, here at The Brautigan Library, I am looking forward to learning more from this book.

Schechter wrote, "Towards the end of my freshman year of college I began a project, inspired by an old piece of my writing and a brilliant friend of mine. That project was a blog titled "So You Want to be a Superhero, How Noble of You." It was a satirical guide to the ins and outs of being a superhero in an increasingly bizarre world. The blog has updated twice a week, nearly every a week, for over three years now. This volume contains the first fifty entries, containing guides to such superhero basics as "costumes," "codenames," "theme music" and "what to do if you have lame superpowers."

Archiving the Popular: An Examination of Equity in Archiving Through the Lens of Richard Brautigan's The Abortion

Zachary Schechter
(Woodmere, New York)
MS #344
DIG 2020.004 Registered 15 May 2020 by The Librarian
READ Archiving the Popular . . .

Author's Synopsis
In this manuscript, I analyze the archival process for works of art and literature and examine whether or not the way we do things is actually fair, right, or good. In doing so I discuss the library featured in Richard Brautigan's The Abortion as well as [The Brautigan Library, a] very online archival database.

Beginning
In Richard Brautigan's 1971 novel, The Abortion: An Historical Romance 1966, he describes a unique library that accepts exclusively unpublished narratives. The Library, and its tireless and nameless Librarian, are available to would-be writers, thinkers, and dreamers at all hours and authors are encouraged to place their books on whichever shelf they like, so long as they feel that their manuscript would feel at home there. While the Library in the book serves merely as a backdrop for the whirlwind and "historical" romance of the Librarian and a young woman named Vida that results in the need for a cross-country trip to Mexico for the titular abortion, the governing and operating principles of the Library have led me to question the merits by which we as a society archive and preserve works of art and literature. I believe that the selective and biased nature of modern day archives and literary canons, coupled with the need for a work to be palatable to the elite for it to be published and consumed by the masses, has severely hindered our ability to preserve and be exposed to alternative schools of thought or unique or marginalized viewpoints. I believe that this hurts not only our current cultural moment, but can also have unforeseen consequences for decades, if not centuries, to come.

Librarian's Comments
With his submission of this manuscript, Schechter wrote, "This is a really cool and valuable thing that you're doing, so thanks!"

Schechter also said, "I was inspired to write my senior year thesis on this project by the very work that inspired this archive, Richard Brautigan's The Abortion, and the fantastical Library that Brautigan described and breathed life to within its pages. My thesis describes why I believe this Brautiganian method of archiving everything regardless of merit, scholarship, notoriety, or coherency is actually far more ideal than more mainstream biased archival systems. I discuss the harmful and long lasting effects selective archiving can have and how other scholars around the world and throughout history have argued in favor of a more equitable system. For the final portion of my senior thesis project, I am putting my money where my mouth is and submitting the text of my thesis to be archived for the world to read, within the very archive that Brautigan inspired."

Brautigan Library Podcast, Episode 4, Archiving the Popular: An Examination of Equity in Archiving Through the Lens of Richard Brautigan's The Abortion
Phoenix Crockett, of Burlington, Vermont, volunteered to read, record, and produce audio versions of manuscripts collected in The Brautigan Library. This is the fourth episode of The Brautigan Library Podcast. If you are familiar with the record album, Listening to Richard Brautigan, you'll agree that Crocket sounds a lot like Brautigan. Interesting.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Archiving the Popular: An Examination of Equity in Archiving Through the Lens of Richard Brautigan's The Abortion by Zachary Schechter, and enjoy.

Title by Default

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #343
DIG 2020.003 Registered 15 May 2020 by The Librarian
READ Title by Default

Author's Synopsis
A writer suffers from self-doubt as he struggles to get any mileage on his next short story. Knocks at the door a stranger.

Beginning
As a writer you never know what to expect if something you have written suddenly becomes successful. After I wrote Almost Like Texas, I was pleasantly surprised that the people in my burrow in the Oregon Cascades showed how much they respect my privacy. I can go to the post office and pick up the mail and people are most likely thinking of asking for an autograph or having a cellphone selfie taken with me but they just let me go about my business.

Librarian's Comments
In his note with this story, Lenny L. Leonard wrote, "Yesterday I did a Facebook post. Reread it hours later and realized it had enough elements to be a short story. I remember Hemingway being challenged to write the shortest short story and he came back with one in six words. 'For Sale . . . Baby Shoes . . . Never used.' Mine is slightly longer . . . was intended as a post . . . it says more than I intended. Here it is, Five years ago late tomorrow morning I lost my wife Wendy to cancer. Today I have some hand sanitizer she left behind in her purse. Still works fine . . . one drop at a time. This story is safe in your hands. I know you wash them." Leonard has contributed several manuscripts to the Library's collection: Title by Default, Snot Lake, Moose, The Shane Dougherty Story, Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee, and Almost Like Texas.

Snot Lake

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #342
DIG 2020.002 Registered 15 May 2020 by The Librarian
READ Snot Lake

Author's Synopsis
An unemployed English teacher lands a job at a high school in Snot Lake, an unincorporated area outside the borders of Owosso in Shiawassee County, Michigan. A shake up at the Owosso Police department leaves a position open for a disgruntled Officer who knows a Judge who knows the Governor and a cat who hides within the walls of the local school. Can a muscle car bring true love? September is the best month in Michigan.

Beginning
Obviously he couldn't take his eyes off the three young girls. All three were bouncing themselves down the sidewalk past the Toothpick Bar and Grill. What stood out in his mind wasn't the fact that each had a different shade of hair but the words "WEAR OUT THE TROJANS" stitched on their black and red hoodies. "What kind of a place is this, what if I have these girls in class?" He pulled up in front of the somewhat small cafe half of the Bar and Grill and walked inside. The menu was laminated with the cover simply saying
TOOTHPICK BAR AND GRILL
Snot Lake, Michigan
Home of the Black Flies

Librarian's Comments
I noted earlier that Lenny L. Leonard visited The Brautigan Library 25 January 2020 and participated in our combined celebration of Richard Brautigan's birthday (30 January 1935), the Library's ten year anniversary, and (inter)National Unpublished Writers Day. During the COVID-19 "stay home stay healthy" he submitted this, the title story from his collection Snot Lake, tall tales from Michigan and beyond. His note, with this submission, read, "Thanks again for the Brautigan Library. Some musician friends in Canby [Oregon] want me to write a song lyric. I have a title, 'I Love You a WHOLE LOT MORE than Him.' I almost put it in the story but I didn't. Now I'll contemplate my next move. Stay safe." Leonard has contributed several manuscripts to the Library's collection: Title by Default, Snot Lake, Moose, The Shane Dougherty Story, Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee, and Almost Like Texas.

Moose

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #341
DIG 2020.001 Registered 27 January 2020 by The Librarian
READ Moose

Author's Synopsis
The author steals a title from a library for unpublished books and gets away with it for one hundred ninety-nine words before being caught red handled by empty space.

Beginning
All along they knew they would eventually be killing and then eating a moose. They were now drinking beer and talking of moose hunting things.

Librarian's Comments
Lenny L. Leonard visited The Brautigan Library 25 January 2020 and participated in our combined celebration of Richard Brautigan's birthday (30 January 1935), the Library's ten year anniversary, and (inter)National Unpublished Writers Day. It was quite a day, and just before leaving, Kirschner submitted this short, short story. Moose is the title of a manuscript described by Brautigan in the chapter "The 23" of his novel The Abortion. Leonard did not say whether he was trying to write this fictional manuscript, but he did say the idea "resonated." Leonard has contributed several manuscripts to the Library's collection: Title by Default, Snot Lake, Moose, The Shane Dougherty Story, Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee, and Almost Like Texas.

Brautigan Library Podcast, Episode 3b, Moose
Phoenix Crockett, of Burlington, Vermont, volunteered to read, record, and produce audio versions of manuscripts collected in The Brautigan Library. Crockett calls this part the third episode of The Brautigan Library Podcast, even though it focuses on a different manuscript. If you are familiar with the record album, Listening to Richard Brautigan, you'll agree that Crocket sounds a lot like Brautigan. Interesting.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Moose by Lenny L. Leonard, and enjoy.

Manuscripts 2019

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 18
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 18

Lumber World

Richard Holeton
(Montara, California)
MS #340
DIG 2019.018
Two volumes: Vol. 1: Lumber World: A Novel and Vol. 2: Lumber World: The Rejection File
Registered 1 November 2019 by The Librarian
READ Lumber World, Vol. 1
READ Lumber World, Vol. 2

Librarian's Comments
Holeton's two-volume manuscript addresses the essence of all those in the Library's collection: their rejection by traditional publishers. Vol. 1: Lumber World: A Novel sprawls with Quixotic scope. But, it was rejected by many publishers. Vol. 2: Lumber World: The Rejection File collects the notices, responses, and other evidence against ever seeing this book on a retail shelf. I'm reading both—fascinating and entertaining, a tongue in cheek but oh so honest portrayal of a writer on a doomed mission—during quiet nights here at The Brautigan Library.

Author's Synopsis, Vol. 1, Lumber World: A Novel
"Going to the Lumber Yard may never be the same again!" proclaims one of the bogus blurbs for Lumber World on the mocked-up "back cover" of its make-believe book jacket (see Volume 2, Lumber World: The Rejection File). "Big business and government agents team up, with their banks of computers and surveillance satellites, for an immense top-secret energy project in the Sahara Desert; as they become entangled with a small band of nomads and, halfway around the world, the eccentric crew of a California lumber yard, the results offer both analysis and antidote for modern times," reads the fake front flap. I wrote this unpublished novel, along with the tongue-in-cheek blurbs, mostly in my twenties, completing it in 1984. I guess it should be classified as "juvenilia" or work "produced in youth or adolescence, before the writer has formed a mature style" (Free Dictionary)—although I'm not sure I ever developed a "mature style" or completely outgrew an adolescent sense of humor. Also in my later, published work I still retain some fondness for the optimism, oddball characters, and sheer exuberance of the 1970s counterculture, depicted here just beginning to grapple with the powerful forces of the straight world, as was I. So I am grateful to deposit this text with The Brautigan Library—with its own offbeat origins and mission—where perhaps it will encounter new friends (or maybe a screenwriter or two to share my longstanding dream of creating Lumber World: The Movie!). See Volume II, Lumber World: The Rejection File, for a catalog of my efforts, with editors and literary agents, to publish the novel in the 1980s.

Beginning, Vol. 1, Lumber World: A Novel
Down at the foot of the High Sierra in Northern California, God put a quarter in the earth's Magic Fingers and nothing Animal, Mineral, or Vegetable stopped vibrating for the full thirty seconds; God got his money's worth.

Lumber World was the epicenter.

The tremor could be felt halfway around the world: As far as North Africa, rivulets streaked down the faces of dunes, rearranging countless grains of sand and altering forever the complexion of the Sahara Desert.

"An Opener!" Cap'n Bob was banging his fist on the side of the Joker's van in the Employee Parking Lot.

"Hear me Joker? I brung us an Eye-Opener!"

"Unnhh," the Joker was saying.

Brautigan Library Podcast, Episode 3, Lumber World, Vol. 1, Parts 1, 2, and 3
Phoenix Crockett, of Burlington, Vermont, volunteered to read, record, and produce audio versions of manuscripts collected in The Brautigan Library. His reading of Lumberworld by Richard Holeton is the third episode of The Brautigan Library Podcast. If you are familiar with the record album, Listening to Richard Brautigan, you'll agree that Crocket sounds a lot like Brautigan. Interesting.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Lumber World, Vol. 1, Part 1 by Richard Holeton, and enjoy.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Lumber World, Vol. 1, Part 2 by Richard Holeton, and enjoy.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Lumber World, Vol. 1, Part 3a by Richard Holeton, and enjoy.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Lumber World, Vol. 1, Part 3b by Richard Holeton, and enjoy.

LISTEN to Crockett reading Lumber World, Vol. 1, Part 4 by Richard Holeton, and enjoy.

The Brautigan Library Podcast is available here
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Author's Synopsis, Vol. 2, Lumber World: The Rejection File
The[se] 90-some pages of letters, postcards, and other documents, comprise a record of my extensive attempts to publish [Lumber World: A Novel] during 1984 and 1985—and the results of those efforts in dozens of rejections. Thus in this case, ironically, The Brautigan Library, home of unpublished manuscripts, makes available to the reading public along with a manuscript also a complete history of its trials and misfortunes, its hits and misses, its aborted journey or destiny not to be published (at least so far!). Such a "rejection file" constitutes a record of disappointment and seeming futility, punctuated by rare moments of hope and encouragement, with which many writers are familiar, and which most readers never see (see Preface for examples of famous works rejected by publishers). As it turns out, aided in some cases by my name-dropping of certain friends, professors, and other writers, Lumber World succeeded in getting the attention of many successful editors and literary agents (some illustrious, and at least one who became notorious), and I have annotated the documents with commentary containing contextual information and historical notes for interested readers.

The Shane Dougherty Story

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #339
DIG 2019.017
Registered 1 November 2019 by The Librarian
READ The Shane Dougherty Story

Author's Synopsis
A story about saving seats in your youth and in your later years tinged with a misplaced interest in England.

Beginning
I know that it's hard to believe that the story of someone I met last year starts in 1966 . . . but it does. The scene was the Michigan State Fair in the band shell seating waiting for the show to start that would eventually bring out the Supremes. If this had happened in 1967, the summer of the Detroit riot, things may have gone differently but this was 1966 and things were more care free for those stateside.

I never felt right saving seats. If people want a seat—be on time—so I had a bad feeling when my father said to spread out our jackets on seats because he was saving seats. Eventually all those having seats saved for them all showed up . . . except one. Everybody took their jackets back and my father put his hand on the seat next to him. The show started with the warm up act and this unseen unpunctual person did not show up.

All at once a big, big, smiling African-American woman came up and my father said "This seat is saved," and she said "that's fine," and proceeded to sit on my father's hand. She looked over and said "honey, when they show up they can sit on my lap." My father withdrew his hand. I said inside "yes, yes, yes," being a seat saving hater.

Librarian's Comments
Lenny L. Leonard said he wrote and submitted this short story on a dare. He did not provide details. Leonard has contributed several manuscripts to the Library's collection: Title by Default, Snot Lake, Moose, The Shane Dougherty Story, Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee, and Almost Like Texas.

Brautigan Library Podcast, Episode 2, The Shane Dougherty Story
Phoenix Crockett, of Burlington, Vermont, volunteered to read, record, and produce audio versions of manuscripts collected in The Brautigan Library. His reading of The Shane Dougherty Story by Lenny L. Leonard is the second episode of The Brautigan Library Podcast. If you are familiar with the record album, Listening to Richard Brautigan, you'll agree that Crocket sounds a lot like Brautigan. Interesting. LISTEN and enjoy.

The Brautigan Library Podcast is available here
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Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #338
DIG 2019.016
Registered 1 November 2019 by The Librarian
READ Ernest Hemingway on the Shiawassee

Author's Synopsis
The only police officer in America without a car finds a memorial cross and a bottle of Ale. Ernest Hemmingway discovers adventure and his "Achilles heel on the Shiawassee River while motoring a 1917 Scripps-Booth torpedo roadster.

Beginning
Officer Lee never knew what it was. He has been passing by it on foot five days a week before and after his shift at the local precinct. He always thought of it as a yard complete with weeds and traces of grass but after asking around he found that reverse corner lot was the more correct term. He learned this when filing a report on the death of one Bartholomew Dawdle.

Dawdle had been driving an old Ford pick-up when he came to meet a tree outside of town at the blinking red light. This was on the walk home for Ryan Lee. He was walking because he was yet to acquire the use of a car although he had been promised help from a number of sources including his sister. Frankly he thought he was the only police officer in America who had to get home via shank's pony. Captain Danville at the precinct could have easily let him take the third squad car home but he preferred to keep the car in with the impounded cars overnight.

What was striking about the report was that Dawdle appeared to have been eating Shrimp and Grits coupled with Truffle Parmesan fries. These were found all over the cab once the paramedics arrived on the scene. Lee loved Shrimp and Grits as well as Parmesan Fries and he found it troubling that he had no idea where Dawdle would have bought the food in the area. He wasn't given much office work so he was delighted to be filling out the report.

Librarian's Comments
This is a short story from Lenny L. Leonard's collection Snot Lake, tall tales from Michigan and beyond.

Almost Like Texas

Lenny L. Leonard
(Brightwood, Oregon)
MS #337
DIG 2019.015
Registered 1 August 2019 by The Librarian
READ Almost Like Texas

Author's Synopsis
A sidewalk snow and ice removal compliance officer goes to the home of a local socialite and gets caught in a three day blizzard of passionate transformation.

Beginning
He was told the work was seasonal. If winter had only spread its wings about five months more he could have been vacationing in Traverse City eating cherries and spitting out the seeds. Instead he had set up his table in front of Foster's Coffee Shop and was staring at two things . . . the latte he was sipping and people's shoes.

Librarian's Comments
This short story is from Lenny L. Leonard's collection Snot Lake, tall tales from Michigan and beyond.

Brautigan Library Podcast, Episode 1, Almost Like Texas
Phoenix Crockett, of Burlington, Vermont, volunteered to read, record, and produce audio versions of manuscripts collected in The Brautigan Library. His reading of Almost Like Texas by Lenny L. Leonard is the first episode of The Brautigan Library Podcast. It's wonderful! If you are familiar with the record album, Listening to Richard Brautigan, you'll agree that Crocket sounds a lot like Brautigan. Interesting. LISTEN to Crockett reading Almost Like Texas by Lenny L. Leonard, and enjoy.

The Brautigan Library Podcast is available here
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Shenanigan Balderdash & Co.

Ivan de Monbrison
(Saint-Mand, France)
MS #336
DIG 2019.014
Registered 26 July 2019 by The Librarian
READ Shenanigan Balderdash & Co.

Author's Synopsis
The story takes place in Marseilles, France, the characters are Ivan, the narrator, Nanaqui, the zombie-ghost of the poet Antonin Artaud, and Sarah, a witch.

Beginning
The world so easy to fight seemed so easy . . . I think it is Ginsberg on Apollinaire's grave who wrote these lines, back in another era, another world from now. Why am I thinking about this line today? Once again back in good old Marseilles after all these years of dying, craving, loneliness (I love to indulge into self-pity).

Poemas De Puebla

Max E. Barnes Herrlander
(New York, New York)
MS #335
DIG 2019.013
Registered 7 February 2019 by The Librarian
READ Poemas De Puebla

Author's Synopsis
In 2008, the author arrived in Puebla, Mexico, from Sweden and attended a one-month entry-level course in the Spanish language. Herrlander wrote poems daily for public presentation and discussion. This became an investigation into communication and the simplicity of pure expressions. While learning a new language, what happens when you use the simplest words and don't provide context? These poems represent the exploration from both a philosophical and language standpoint.

Beginning
Poem of the day
Twentieth of June

breakfast is the more important meal for the day. i am
eating in a restaurant on the beach. the sun is incredible
there are big dogs, black and white with a lot of hair.

i am almost dead.
i am very hungry,
a lot of pain,
a lot of pain.

finally an angel arrives with a plate of eggs and beans.

life is wonderful.

Love Call Me

Pierre Gauvin
(Montreal, Canada)
MS #334
DIG (POE) 2019.012
Registered 12 February 2019 by The Librarian
READ Love Call Me

Author's Synopsis
These 34 poems are distilled from a 350 page hand written letter I sent by post to my friend Eric Simon. He introduced me to Richard Brautigan's books in 1994 by suggesting I read Dreaming of Babylon. I have read and reread all of Brautigan's writings ever since.

Beginning
Coffee of the afternoon

Hands touch each other accidentally. So brief in the living room.
Sun on the carpet,
shadow of your hair.
Particles floating, lit by the ray.
I turn around,
look at the angel.
Heart of the world in the light.
I drink a sip of my steaming coffee. Presage is behind me.
I do not ask myself questions.
You will give the answer.
Life of the heartbeat leads to this moment: Sunny living room.

Librarian's Comment
Pierre said he composed these poems from his letter to Eric Simon. He initially wrote these poems in French and then translated them into English. He feels the English translations have qualities that the French originals do not, and vice versa. Only the English translations are included in his manuscript. Pierre recently published with Eric Simon a small collaborative limited edition (100 copies) artist book, J'ai couché dans un Yi-King. Each copy is rubber stamped by hand with 34 sentences in French, some of which are taken from Gauvin's letter to Simon. He also produced an audio version. LISTEN here.

Brautigan Library Podcast, Episode 6, Love Call Me
Phoenix Crockett, of Burlington, Vermont, volunteered to read, record, and produce audio versions of manuscripts collected in The Brautigan Library. His reading of Love Call Me by Pierre Gauvin is the sixth episode of The Brautigan Library Podcast. It's wonderful! If you are familiar with the record album, Listening to Richard Brautigan, you'll agree that Crocket sounds a lot like Brautigan. Interesting. LISTEN to Crockett reading Love Call Me by Pierre Gauvin, and enjoy.

The Brautigan Library Podcast is available here
Google Play Music
Libsyn Classic Feed
Podcast Page
Spotify

Making It Up As I Go Along

Jamie Graham
(Madison, Connecticut)
MS #333
DIG 2019.011
Registered 10 February 2019 by The Librarian
READ Making It Up As I Go Along

Author's Synopsis
Making it Up As I Go Along is the memoir of Doug King, a British inventor, creative director and copywriter, who moves to America. Doug's ideas are original and clever. His life story is full of amusing anecdotes, and interactions with well-known rock stars and business entrepreneurs. The narrative jumps forwards and back in time, as his adventures and relationships are described in often-explicit detail.

Beginning
1. 2018. Crossroads John Mayer. T-shirt. Uniqlo jeans. Black Adidas sneakers.

Doug is sitting in the hair stylist's chair watching white hair falling on a black smock.

Yes, it's white; not the very light grey color it was the last time he noticed it. Not the salt and pepper color it looked, in a certain, optimistic light, a few years ago. Certainly not the thick, long, light brown locks he had the first time he paid for a proper hair stylist.

Librarian's Comment
There are fifty-five chapters in Graham's manuscript. As she writes, "Each is marked with a year, a song, and what the subject was wearing. In case this is ever made into a movie." A Spotify playlist of the songs can be found at: https://open.spotify.com/user/1213844121/playlist/2UBCtphCFcr1hhnQCrk4FC?si=j3Vjh1ZIQLO6FiYB3yAzVA

Salvation of Bertram Davis

Rand Attaway
(Farmersville, Ohio)
MS #332
DIG (HUM) 2019.010
Registered 3 February 2019 by The Librarian
READ Salvation of Bertram Davis

Author's Synopsis
Following an indescribably horrific event, Bertram [Davis] emerged a changed but broken man. But in spite of the loss of his career, social stigmas, and the habit [of] externalizing his innermost thoughts to the annoyance of all, Bertram is determined to rise above his situation. With the help of his friend Marty and the other broken people at group therapy, he embarks upon adventures for the quest of self in the urban jungle of Baltimore, [Maryland]. The Salvation of Bertram Davis is a humorous, modern-day Quixotic tale.

Beginning
Since the night of his 30th birthday, the night he was raped on Miami Beach, Bertram Davis would be forever changed. What was once a model human, cast in the mold of a routine and complacent life, had been broken and reassembled into a flawed state. Whether it was from the horror of the event, the shock from his near death experience, or the ridicule he endured for the many months that followed, one thing was certain: he would never be the same man again.

Librarian's Comment
Rand Attaway described himself as an "unknown, but aspiring, writer." He said he thought his manuscript was best suited for the HUMOR category. Talking about his manuscript, he said, "Since its completion, I have always lamented the reality that my manuscript would likely go no further than the confines of my hard drive. Discovering your library has given me new hope, that eyes beyond the circle of my friends might actually read it. I reviewed the manuscript on the website. I forgot all about the restaurant in the plot called 'The Library,' central to the life of the protagonist. I love the little coincidences that pop up in life, and I can't think of a more appropriate place for my story to reside. My sincerest and most heartfelt thanks."

Upstream

Judith Harway
(Shorewood, Wisconsin)
MS #331
DIG (POE) 2019.009
Registered 21 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ Upstream

Author's Synopsis
This manuscript of poetry was composed between 1980-1986 by the young woman I was in my twenties. The poems—largely concerned with the mysteries of perception and the emotional excitement of ideas—constitute a first book that was abandoned in a drawer as the demands of teaching, child-rearing, elder-care, and life's other wonders swelled to fill all of the psychic space the author had available. More than thirty years and a few published books later, these poems make their way out into a harsher world than the one in which they were composed.

Beginning
Wash

My mother practiced homely arts.
Her palette of colors, lights, the absences
of bodies blurred as knees and elbows

bagged, remembering. Her pattern:
pale before the dark, a landscape's
slow accumulated muddiness

redeemed each Tuesday, folding
me again. I held the poses,
donned and shed my skins, and came, clean

and unasked into the cycles
occupying her. Some stains I hid.
But sometimes stains defined

the medium of me: her bright sheets shook
and hung on lines, the hot iron
of perfection, lost their artfulness

if I stepped back where distances cohere.
Here is my body. Here, the lovely grit
she couldn't gloss no matter how she tried.

Librarian's Comment
Judith Harway is a professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Her poetry has been widely published. This manuscript, however, as she said, was forgotten as she was "swept along in the relentless flow" of adulthood. "It was a pleasure to meet my former self while dusting this off, but I wouldn't venture to revise her work. Rather, I am delighted to imagine her manuscript finding a home among its peers, and, perhaps in time, a reader or two. With my heartfelt thanks, and applause for the winsome mission of the Brautigan Library."

Autocratic Students Society

Michael Lawrence Clark
MS #330
DIG (SOC) 2019.008
Registered 16 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ Autocratic Students Society

Author's Synopsis
In the early years of the Oceanic superstate, during the lead-up to the great purges, a bright young university student struggles to understand what is happening around her. While she is initially amused by fellow student Donald, an executive member of the Autocratic Students Society, she becomes increasingly concerned by his beliefs and ensuing behaviour.

Beginning
Julia stumbled into her dorm room around one AM, locking her door clumsily, and feeling her way through the darkness to bed. There she lay on her back, with her hands on her stomach. It was unlike her to get drunk, but this had not been an ordinary evening. At least I resisted his advances, she thought, during a brief respite from the nausea. She was angry with herself, for going to the pub with Donald. I shouldn't have drank so much at the auditorium. She thought about Donald's hair, and giggled. Then she disappeared into a deep sleep.

A Suite: Pi

Karama Neal
MS #329
DIG 2019.007
Registered 15 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ A Suite: Pi

Author's Synopsis
Seven musical compositions celebrating Pi Day, 14 March 2015. OrcidID called them "the perfect music for pi day." Each of the seven pieces is composed using a musical scale with the same number of notes as found in pi of the chosen base. The songs use pi in bases 5, 6, 7, 8, and 12, and notation of pi is shown in each song.

Librarian's Comment
Pi is a mathematical constant, determined by the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. With the numerical value of pi changing based on the number base—base ten is the normal, most often used—the number of notes also changes. The number of notes and the intervals between them make for some interesting music. This is the first collection of musical scores submitted to the Library.

yudō: The Art of the Bath

Brent Emerson
(Portland, Oregon)
MS #328
DIG (NAT) 2019.006
Registered 13 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ yudō: The Art of the Bath

Author's Synopsis
This brief pamphlet imagines an "Art of the Bath . . . using Japanese linguistic and historical-cultural tools, focusing attention on the experience of bathing, playfully emphasizing its ritualized and contemplative aspects, and appreciating all forms & themes of bathing culture." It is both a practical guide and a theoretical exploration, rounded out with dips into scientific and social matters. In some sense a central concern is to consider a phenomenon that some might consider "spiritual" from a very naturalistic/scientific perspective, balanced with some social/cultural framing. It might fit in the NAT, SOC, or SPI categories. And of course MEA and even LOV are tempting. I suppose Natural World (NAT) probably wins out in the end for me. Then, there's always ALL if nothing else seems quite right.

Beginning
yudō is a way to approach the bath using Japanese linguistic and historical-cultural tools, focusing attention on the experience of bathing, playfully emphasizing its ritualized and contemplative aspects, and appreciating all forms &themes of bathing culture.

Librarian's Comment
Brent Emerson included this note with his submission of three manuscripts to The Brautigan Library. He was quite kind.
Twenty years ago, I was an undergraduate at Brown University, where I discovered The Abortion and other Brautigan works in the cavernous main humanities library. I loved reading books in that setting so very much that I occasionally hid them behind other books in random locations so that they would not be found and checked out by others and I could return the next day or week to resume my reading. I hereby apologize for my selfish youthful indiscretion and am so grateful to have learned (from This American Life) of the existence of The Brautigan Library! I am submitting two manuscripts of poetry and one brief treatise on bathing culture. I can think of no higher honor than being connected in this way to someone who inspired me so deeply at such a formative time in my life. I'm so grateful for your work in curating and sustaining The Brautigan Library.
— Brent Emerson

synchronology

Brent Emerson
(Portland, Oregon)
MS #327
DIG (POE) 2019.005
Registered 13 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ synchronology

Author's Synopsis
A collection of prose poems and other forms. Completed by the author in college, writing under the influence of the oulipo, abstract algebra, Rosmarie Waldrop, train travel, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, young love, Richard Brautigan, and so many other wondrous people and moments. Much of the content takes the form of "prose poetry" or other formal structures, but I definitely consider this a work of poetry.

Beginning
Bathe in the incandescence of a length of time, collapsing. It was never discussed how this was to be accomplished, but you'd found a way, swimming too near the surface to touch foundation. An instant shouldn't be this heavy, this difficult to catalog: now. But things in themselves seldom do what they should, called by so many voices, so many structures to imply. Witness the futile embrace of the moment, the awkward power of an accidental creation. What semblance of gesture enjoys.

Librarian's Comment
Brent Emerson included this note with his submission of three manuscripts to The Brautigan Library. He was quite kind.
Twenty years ago, I was an undergraduate at Brown University, where I discovered The Abortion and other Brautigan works in the cavernous main humanities library. I loved reading books in that setting so very much that I occasionally hid them behind other books in random locations so that they would not be found and checked out by others and I could return the next day or week to resume my reading. I hereby apologize for my selfish youthful indiscretion and am so grateful to have learned (from This American Life) of the existence of The Brautigan Library! I am submitting two manuscripts of poetry and one brief treatise on bathing culture. I can think of no higher honor than being connected in this way to someone who inspired me so deeply at such a formative time in my life. I'm so grateful for your work in curating and sustaining The Brautigan Library.
— Brent Emerson

edge of a mountain forest

Brent Emerson
(Portland, Oregon)
MS #326
DIG (POE) 2019.004
Registered 13 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ edge of a mountain forest

Author's Synopsis
edge of a mountain forest is a book-length poem, a set of equations, and a love letter to experience. Structured around the layered composition of Japanese kanji, it explores the contextual and synthetic basis of thought through and by metaphor with language. Much of the content takes the form of "prose poetry" or other formal structures, but I definitely consider this a work of poetry.

Beginning
We swim at midnight in the blue light. Mouths of water, full and bright, moths spun in circles—even dance of flesh and water, insect, night. Our skin awake to skin of water. Eyes to waves of color playing over us and leaves above to lick dark sky.

Librarian's Comment
Brent Emerson included this note with his submission of three manuscripts to The Brautigan Library. He was quite kind.
Twenty years ago, I was an undergraduate at Brown University, where I discovered The Abortion and other Brautigan works in the cavernous main humanities library. I loved reading books in that setting so very much that I occasionally hid them behind other books in random locations so that they would not be found and checked out by others and I could return the next day or week to resume my reading. I hereby apologize for my selfish youthful indiscretion and am so grateful to have learned (from This American Life) of the existence of The Brautigan Library! I am submitting two manuscripts of poetry and one brief treatise on bathing culture. I can think of no higher honor than being connected in this way to someone who inspired me so deeply at such a formative time in my life. I'm so grateful for your work in curating and sustaining The Brautigan Library.
— Brent Emerson

Serenity's Diva Tips on Life

Chris Grenci and Candy Torres
(Webster, Texas)
MS #325
DIG 2019.03
Registered 9 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ Serenity's Diva Tips on Life

Author's Synopsis
This graphic story about Serenity, an odd-eyed cat (different colored eyes), is also an homage to Chris Grenci, who is dying of cancer. The hope is that readers will feel some of the joy Chris brought to life. It is her legacy to put a smile on people's faces.

Beginning
One evening I received a call from a woman from the animal shelter where I picked up Spirit—my oddie sweetie queen who changed my life. She knew I liked odd-eyed cats. Yes, two different colored eyes—one blue and one green. She told me 4 month old Simone was at the "kill" shelter in danger of being euthanized.

Librarian's Comment
Chris Grenci died of esophageal cancer within days of submitting this book to The Brautigan Library. I am told she died happy that her book was here for others to read. That idea was comforting. In this way, books can outlive their authors, and continue to carry their messages to interested readers. This is one of those books. Enjoy its grace and power.

Nowhere Café & Society

Charles B. Lemmons
(Nashville, Tennessee)
MS #324
DIG (MEA) 2019.002
Registered 6 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ Nowhere Café & Society

Author's Synopsis
This is a story about identifying one's credibility to oneself. The place is a particular area, just outside of Nashville's budding metropolitan area, where people go to find out more about themselves and their heritage.

Beginning
Lingering out west of town, just beyond the sea of sprawling homes and the towering apartments, a haze collected and waited. Most days it went unnoticed, but recently it clicked into Tobe's mind that Nashville was in fact turning into the LA of the 1970's. The theory often brooded in her mind during grim car rides back home. She contended, especially whenever she listened to the "Inherent Vice" audio book, That's it.

Puppy Dreams

Charlie Miksicek
(St. Louis, Missouri)
MS #323
DIG 2019.001
Registered 4 January 2019 by The Librarian
READ Puppy Dreams

Author's Synopsis
Dolly, a curious, yellow Labrador puppy encounters a mysterious light that seems to understand her thoughts and transports her on a magical journey.

Beginning
One day, Dolly was in her yard, minding her own business. She was staying out of trouble, which was unusual for her. She was cold, hungry, and bored.

Librarian's Comment
This is the first manuscript submitted to The Brautigan Library in 2019. Charlie said, "I would be honored to be included in this honorable institution." The Library is honored to make this manuscript available to interested readers. Charlie's manuscript is very creative, consisting of many multiple-level color photographic images with text narrative. Charlie does not say so, but, as you will see, he is exploring a new form of comics with his use of juxtaposed image and text.

Manuscripts 2018

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 1
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 1

Elias

Greg Moore
(Rainier, Oregon)
MS #322
DIG (ADV) 2018.001
Registered 31 December 2018 by The Librarian
READ Elias

Author's Synopsis
A work of fiction about the owner of AhabOil, written in the style of the Left Behind series. Based on the Biblical story of the prophet Eljah. While its goals are spiritual (illuminating a passage in the Bible), its narrative is purely adventure. So, spiritual hunters have something saltier than a feelgood devotional, and adventure hunters are exposed to an action-packed adventure into spirituality.

Beginning
The Bible, in the First Book of Kings, and a few chapters into the second book, contains one of its most extensive biographies, that of Elijah. Nothing is known of his family or birth, except that he came from Tishbe, a village somewhere east of the Jordan river, whose ruins have not been found. The territory was controlled by the kingdom of Israel, which maintained an uneasy peace with its sister kingdom of Judah, united only by the common enemies surrounding them. Israel was officially Jewish, but during its four centuries of independence spent most of its years in government-sanctioned idol worship, particularly that of Ba'al, the male sex god, the god of choice in the land of Canaan, the fertile area east of the Mediterranean sea. There were several thousand Israelites who worshiped the true God, who lived honestly and decently; but they were scattered, hardly aware of each others' existence. When Elijah came on the scene, the monarch was named Ahab, a man of weak and yielding character, who married a hell-on-wheels named Jezebel, who introduced Ba'al worship on a grand scale, and persecuted the priests and prophets of God by threat and, on occasion, massacre. The seventeenth chapter of Kings begins with Elijah suddenly appearing before King Ahab and announcing himself as a messenger of God, declared that "there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."

Librarian's Comment
Greg was the first author to submit a manuscript to The Library following it being featured in a episode of the popular radio program This American Life, 29 December 2018. See the "Press" menu tab, above. When he submitted this manuscript, Greg said, "I have just submitted my only novel, Elias, in celebration of the Brautigan Library. While I can leave piles of my things on the foyer table at church and even facebook entire manuscripts to every one of my friends in a flash, the idea of a complete stranger pulling my book off a shelf, finding it intriguing, and reading it is utterly wonderful. I have dreamed, since my youth, for a place where people could freely share their creative works. Thank you for creating The Brautigan Library." I did not create The Library, but it is my privilege to be the current Librarian. Greg's book is interesting and relevant. Download it. Give it a read.

Manuscripts 2017

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 1
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 1

The Ballad of the Otter (Revised)

P.D.S.
(Framingham, Massachusetts)
MS #321
DIG 2017.001
Registered 29 August 2017 by The Librarian
READ The Ballad of the Otter (rev. 2020)
READ The Ballad of the Otter (rev. 2017)

Author's Synopsis
A work of fiction about life and fictional places and characters in the fifty-first state, Superior, in the Great Lakes region, set in the late 1990s and early 1990s. The work incorporates humor and spirituality and was inspired by shows like St. Elsewhere and Twin Peaks. The Ballad of the Otter is an update of sorts to my novel, Tallin Avenue.

Beginning (2017 revision)
Wednesday night, WUSS, the college station (University of Superior State) is airing The Lithuanian Hour with Jan Pinkorash. The Pre-Soviet national anthem of that country is playing. The show is starting. Father Karlash is going out for a drive after a long evening nap.

Librarian's Comment
P.D.S. is a pen name for Peter Sibson. He submitted this digital manuscript and agreed to make it available for downloading and reading in .PDF format. There is no physical manuscript in The Library collection. He this manuscript in 2017, and then submitted a revised version the same year. Then, in 2020, Sibson submitted another revision. Proof that writers never stop writing. Both revisions are available for reading. This is the second novel Peter Sibson has submitted to The Library. The first was a physical manuscript, Tallin Avenue (MS #273; ALL 1993.001). For that novel, Sibson used the pen name Kent Presse.

Manuscripts 2013

Total manuscripts cataloged this year = 5
Missing manuscripts = 0
Total manuscripts added to collection this year = 5

The Captain and The Doctor

Dr. Bob Hoke and Sue Clancy (illustrator)
MS #320
DIG 2013.004
Registered 24 September 2013 by The Librarian
READ The Captain and The Doctor

Author's Synopsis
"We get more of what we focus on" says Dr. Bob Hoke before telling the story of his war-time experience as a younger man and the lesson he learned. Sue Clancy took notes (and drew pictures).

Beginning
Once upon a time there was a certain Submarine Medical Officer who went on a 60 day underwater patrol on a large nuclear submarine with 152 other people on board the "boat." As was traditional in the "silent service" he was not only expected to be the doctor but was cross-trained to "drive" the submarine.

Librarian's Comment
This lovely little manuscript was created by local artist Sue Clancy, with her father, Bob Hoke. Clancy illustrates Hoke's story. The combination of the two is very enjoyable. They submitted this digital manuscript and agreed to make it available for downloading and reading in PDF format. There is no physical manuscript in The Library collection.

Gamelan (Music for a Shadow Play)

Lawrence R. Tirino
MS #319
DIG 2013.003
Registered 1 September 2013 by The Librarian
READ Gamelan (Music for a Shadow Play)

Author's Synopsis
I grew up in Queens, New York, but am now an ex-patriot, living in Ecuador. It pleases me to submit Gamelan (Music for a Shadow Play) to The Brautigan Library.

This manuscript is a work that is neither prose nor poetry—neither short story nor novel. It's [a William S.] Burroughs' cut up brought into the 21st Century. We have reached beyond post modernism and have entered the era of the hyperlinked mind. This is a story of a man who grew up in the fifties and went to Viet Nam. He came back to work for the CIA in South America during the 1970s and eventually became a contractor for Booze Allen. He then stole his desk files and turned them into stories that he sold while playing music on the street. To say any more would spoil the dark adventure.

Beginning
Chucha de tu madre! Que bestia!
Louis grumbled under his breath as he listened to the men on red scooters visiting all the small shopkeepers. Chulqueros! He spat into the gutter. Todo el pueblo anda chiro; meaning of course that everyone's pockets held lint, or dust, or assorted garbage, but none of them held any money.

Librarian's Comment
CIA. Spies. South America, stolen files turned into stories . . . it all sounded interesting when Mr. Tirino contacted me from Ecuador and asked about adding his manuscript to The Library collection. This may be an example of hiding in plain sight, so enjoy this one while you can. He submitted this digital manuscript and agreed to make it available for downloading and reading in .PDF format. There is no physical manuscript in The Library collection.

LaSalle Street and The Hutchman File

Brian Spicer
MS #318
DIG 2013.002
Registered 31 August 2013 by The Librarian
READ LaSalle Street and The Hutchman File

Author's Synopsis
Two stories by Spicer: "LaSalle Street" and "The Hutchman File."

"LaSalle Street"
Not every person who belongs to high society knows much about the top levels of political power. One who does is Ed Githens. He has influence beyond his private sector, corporate standing. The summer's events are followed by the intrigues of autumn, and Ed seems to be secure. But he suffers limitations even though he has help from people on LaSalle Street. Federal officials do something unprecedented.

Beginning
The man who had authorized the building project that could be seen from Jeffcott's farm was rather vigilant now, several years later. He had been, and would be for a long time. From that point on the farm's boundary someone who had been told what to look for might actually see a corner of the house built by the newcomer. Then if he climbed a tree he could get the more spectacular view: a good-sized clearing that contained the full form of someone's enviable residence. Ed Githens took steps to make sure his home would remain more or less a secret. Along with his vigilance, though, was a playfulness that often seemed hard to defend. It was one of his experiments to give his new cell phone number to just one person outside his family. This would be a complete stranger. The question was, how long before additional strangers would be using the number? He'd subject these people to some longwinded greetings.

"The Hutchman File"
Leonard is released after being held for two years at a secret location. He is fascinated by the murder of a journalist who worked in Seattle. He is also consulted by an official who tries to discern someone's high-level mischief, and he is convinced at last that he can identify one of his abductors.

Beginning
A backyard having a swale to one side and loose thicket to the other might be plenty of space for someone's abiding presence. It'll have to do. A stricken man in his fifties will be here for the rest of his life. He tries to remember the decisive things that happened in the past three years. The story's available to him in a few fragments that he has trouble with. He knows it took place in a distant part of the country. One question is, does it have anything to do with the murder of the journalist Nathan Keefe? It's hard to see how. Nathan became too famous because of his blog, and he was trying to stay virtuously independent when he rejected the offer of employment as part of a radio talk show team. His body was found in one of the storage buildings behind a house in Skamania County. Now the fifty-something man has the idea that he should be able to relate this to a fragment of memory, so he's at this again. But he looks over at his cottage when he hears the back door opening. Shelly, his wife, walks out to where he's resting at the picnic table. She tells him something about their planned visit to Battle Ground, set for the next morning. Soon she walks to the front yard, leaving her companion to drift back in thought towards Nathan. There's the problem of how to evaluate the dead man's influence on a certain corrupting movement. It's been denied by his friends and relatives that Nathan agreed to the contractual obligations of those who take part in the movement's vile practices. And as far as the television commentators would care, it's only in the last five days that these practices have become worth mentioning. When he begins to feel more discomfort, Leonard Hutchman arises from the bench at the picnic table and somehow begins to stagger towards the back door. He enters the house. In the afternoon and evening he keeps trying to remember the fragments.

Librarian's Comment
Brian Spicer visited The Brautigan Library this month and asked about adding his writing to the collection. He is an interesting man, a bit nervous about sharing his work with the public, but willing to experiment with this first sample. He submitted this digital manuscript and agreed to make it available for downloading and reading in .PDF format. There is no physical manuscript in The Library collection.

Ubiquita del Bianco (A Confused Despair)

Pietro Altieri
MS #317
DIG 2013.001
Registered 18 February 2013 by The Librarian
READ Ubiquita del Bianco (A Confused Despair)

Author's Synopsis
A Confused Despair is a work that cannot be placed in a predefined section. Indeed, it is not a traditional novel, or a paper, or a collection of tales or poems. Actually it is a sort of mosaic, a puzzle of fragments of our society, an assembly of passages of poetic prose, episodes drawn from news, promotional inserts, first-person stories, pieces of dialogues. All these parts are shown as the visions of an homeless philosopher that is able to read others' thoughts. Fragments that, once put back together, constitute a merciless and sarcastic portrait of today's world.

The Master's Ass and More

Phillip Frey
MS #040.5
HUM 1990.005
Registered 14 June 1990 by The Librarian
READ The Master's Ass and More.

Author's Synopsis
The Master's Ass and More is a collection of stories ["The Master's Ass," "Drapes," "Other Voices," "Hey, Jack," "H,m," "Old Hat," "The Savings Bank," "The Hero of Lost Causes," "Subject's Last Interview," "Five," "David," "The Fool," "Jack and Jill," "The Candle and the Flame," "The Turtle," and an "Epilogue"]. Some are short and some are long. Some are light and some are dark. Some are true and some are not.

Beginning
Security cameras sat in the trees like birds of prey, spying down on a gravel road that cut through the Malibu woods. A quarter-mile down the road stood a canvas-covered gate crowned with razor-sharp spearheads. On either side of the gate ran a high barbwire fence that surrounded a three-acre estate.

Librarian's Comment
In January 2013, Phillip Frey submitted a digital revised version of his collection of stories, The Master's Ass and More. I noted, about the original stories, "Some are short and some are long. Some are light and some are dark. Some are true and some are not." Of the originals, Frey said, "They were in bad shape and needed the scalpel. I feel good about having performed the operation." This revised manuscript is not counted as a separate manuscript in the Library's collection and is available for downloading and reading in PDF format.