Product Description

A reclusive young man works in a San Francisco library for unpublishable books. Life's losers, an astonishing number of whom seem to be writers, can bring their manuscripts to the library, where they will be welcomed, registered and shelved. They will not be read, but they will be cherished. In comes Vida, with her manuscript. Her book is about her gorgeous body, in which she feels uncomfortable. The librarian makes her feel comfortable, and together they live in the back of the library until the trip to Tijuana changes them in ways neither of them had ever expected.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #327472 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 171 pages

Customer Reviews

60's America Personified
The Abortion was the first book by Richard Brautigan I read. A future employer recommended Brautigan to me before I travelled around the USA in 1998. I found The Abortion for $1.50 in a second-hand bookstore on the University of Washington campus in Seattle and this seemed to me quite an apt place to buy my first Brautigan book.

I wasn't too sure to what to expect from The Abortion, or any Brautigan book for that matter, but once I started reading the book I kind of understood where Brautigan was coming from. The wonderful idea of a library which houses unpublished books by anyone who takes the time to write them, like how to grow flowers by candle light, is something to which I'd hope all societies would aspire.

The scene painted by Brautigan throughout the book is one to which early Joni Mitchell records could be used as a soundtrack. Brautigan's writing style is simplistic but don't let that fool you. His use of language is unusual but that only goes to reinforce the sixties beatnik resolve at the centre of this novel.

While I read this I travelled through San Francisco to San Diego and down into Tijuana. The book acted like an unofficial guidebook and this is probably the best way to read Brautigan, against the backdrop of America itself. I managed to read other Brautigan books on this journey and subsequent trips to America but none have touched me as much as The Abortion. I would suggest anyone to book a ticket to the West Coast, buy The Abortion in a campus bookstore and read it under a leafy tree.

Quirky read.
This is one of the quirkiest books I've ever read. It's about a lonely guy who works in an obscure library that's purpose is to home for all the books that have never been published. The novel is filled with extraordinary characters that Brautigan somehow makes believable. The books contained in the library have been written by random people, amongst them are children who submit tales told in crayon about their toys; teenagers who have written about their problems and worries, and elderly folk who've written their memoirs. All of these books are not shelved in the traditional Dewey Decimal System, but by placement on whichever shelf the author feels happiest with. Eventually the librarian meets a beautiful but insecure woman and they fall in love. She becomes pregnant and they travel to Mexico to get an abortion. At this point you have to remember the book was written in the 1960s and points of view were vastly different then. Brautigan created a surreal world with this novel, full of whimsy and offbeat humour. It's an amazingly creative piece of writing and one that I will never forget.

I believe that the `Brautigan Library' now actually exists and is currently housed in the San Francisco Public Library .

Quirky read.
This is one of the quirkiest books I've ever read. It's about a lonely guy who works in an obscure library that's purpose is to home for all the books that have never been published. The novel is filled with extraordinary characters that Brautigan somehow makes believable. The books contained in the library have been written by random people, amongst them are children who submit tales told in crayon about their toys; teenagers who have written about their problems and worries, and elderly folk who've written their memoirs. All of these books are not shelved in the traditional Dewey Decimal System, but by placement on whichever shelf the author feels happiest with. Eventually the librarian meets a beautiful but insecure woman and they fall in love. She becomes pregnant and they travel to Mexico to get an abortion. At this point you have to remember the book was written in the 1960s and points of view were vastly different then. Brautigan created a surreal world with this novel, full of whimsy and offbeat humour. It's an amazingly creative piece of writing and one that I will never forget.

I believe that the `Brautigan Library' now actually exists and is currently housed in the San Francisco Public Library .