Brautigan and OWS

I really like Trout Fishing in America, but I feel like "A Confederate General from Big Sur" is in some ways more relatable to the current social climate. While most of Brautigan's work has a strong anti-establishment edge, the hero of "A Confederate General from Big Sur," Lee Mellon, is in open rebellion against the power structures in the bay area. In one passage Lee decides to "lay siege to Oakland" and attacks PG&E in "a daring cavalry attack"(44). The siege isn't a literal military attack, but the attack is still a blow against the establishment and status quo. The whole book revolves around the efforts of Lee and the narrator to wage a quiet little rebellion against San Francisco, America, and a power structure that they want no part of. Their resentment occasionally boils over into more direct action, just like the OWS movement exploded out of the long-contained resentment of the disenfranchised and disempowered today. Definitely a recommended read.

-John Griffoul