I picked up a copy of Brautigan’s Trout Fishing In America at Goodwill back in February—I thought my son might enjoy some of its hippy dippy whimsy—and at one point I looked down and misread the title as Trout Fisting In America. Suddenly, I wished I was buying a book with that title instead. I imagined what might be inside it—what a great title, what a great framing device to dig through the sick & twisted parts of the US psyche.
Like most things I write, because it doesn’t already exist, I’ve gone ahead and started writing it myself.
So I’m writing these 1000-1500 word vignettes, each one about a particular aspect of US life that embodies the violence & stupidity & slow psychological death that comes w/living in this society.
I’ll be posting a new one every Tuesday until we reach 50 (extended to 55 b/c goddamn there’s a lot of trout this year that won’t stop spawning). Feel free to e-mail with requests, rebuttals, or retribution at scott_creney@yahoo.com.
UPDATE: In 2021, I went back and edited all of these into something that more closely resembles a book. I corrected errors and typos, and reordered them to create a more compelling narrative–basically changing these from journalism into literature. There is a link to a PDF download below for anyone who wants it, and I’d be honored if you took the time to read it. I’ve left links to the posts as they originally appeared just in case you’re the kind of person who likes typos and lots of hyperlinks.
#1 – Fisting The Trout
#2 – Donald John Trump
#3 – The Military
#4 – The Letter E
#5 – Syria
#6 – Drugs
#7 – Pets
#8 – Sleep Deprivation
#9 – Empathy
#10 – Capitalism
#11 – Questions
#12 – Meritocracy
#13 – Failure
#14 – Death
#15 – Psychedelics
#16 – Divorce
#17 – Assassination
#18 – Cops
#19 – The 4th of July
#20 – Sloth
#21 – Bicycles
#22 – Steal This Book
Runs On Dunkin
#23 – Something Wild
#24 – Exclamation Points!
#25 – Charlottesville
#26 – Ulcer
#27 – Escape
#28 – Houston
#29 – Freewrite Aug 2017
#30 – Butts
#31 – Flea Marketing
#32 – Honesty Time
#33 – 9/11
#34 – Controversy
#35 – Customer Service
#36 – Guns
#37 – Setups
#38 – Buddhism For Motherfuckers
#39- Las Vegas
#40 – Chaos
#41 – The Future
#42 – The Confederacy
#43 – Consumerism
#44 – Vietnam
#45 – Purity
#46 – Israel
#47 – Racism
#48 – Civility
#49 – Elections
#50 – Prisons
#51 – Utopian Visions
#52 – The Conservative Movement
#53 – The Democratic Party
#54 – The Hypermodern Condition
#55 – The Death of America
Scott Creney 