Richard Brautigan's first novel, reissued to mark the 30th anniversary of his death. Introduced by Black Francis

Jesse and Lee share a house owned by a very nice Chinese dentist, where it rains in the hall. They move to cabins on the cliffs at Big Sur where the deafening croaks of frogs can be temporarily silenced by the cry, 'Campbell's Soup'. Ultimately, we learn how the frogs are permanently silenced . . . and dreams disperse around a fire into 186,000 endings per second. In anticipating flower power and the ideals of the Sixties, Brautigan's debut novel was at least a decade before its time and remains a weird and brilliant classic.

"An absorbing, irritating, and terribly amusing book, that brings to American humor a new and disturbing voice." - * San Francisco Chronicle *

"His style and wit transmit so much energy that energy itself becomes the message. Brautigan . . . makes all the senses breathe. Only a hedonist could cram so much life onto a single page" - * Newsweek *

"He writes with a kind of free-wheeling, zany magic" - * Guardian *

"An amazing story... You'll feel better about the whole world after reading this" - * Los Angeles Examiner *