The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 21 January 2001
by Ianthe Brautigan
Author Richard Brautigan took his own life in October of 1984. For his daughter, Ianthe, this is the story of what happened next, and much of what happened before. He had threatened suicide before, and once told teenaged Ianthe that the only reason he didn't kill himself was so that she wouldn't have to find his body. That knowledge is a tremendous responsibility for a young woman to be saddled with, and it is almost cruel for him to have done so. The self-recrimination typical of suicide survivors could only be magnified by the deep dependence between father and daughter. Ianthe grew up with a meteoric father. He was a good writer, but also an alcoholic prone to emotional outbursts. Nevertheless, father and daughter had a close relationship. Ianthe loved him, and was haunted by the mystery of his life and his death. It affected her own life in untold ways. In this book, she explores her memory and how her father's suicide permeates her life today. It is fragmentary, vivid and emotional. There are biographical details that illuminate her father's life, but the book is an exploration of her own life as well. This isn't a compedium of how to deal with a suicide, though. It is very personal. Ianthe explores her father's hidden past, and comes out feeling closer to him than ever, even without any real solutions to his mystery. The book is very engaging, and the reader might be sorry it wasn't longer.