''A Confederate General from Big Sur'' is

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935 – c. September 16, 1984) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. A prolific writer, he wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four bo ...

's first published novel, published in 1965. The story takes place in 1957. A man named Lee Mellon believes he is a descendant of a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

who was originally from

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...

, California. This general is not in any books or records and there is no proof of his existence, although Mellon meets a drifter from the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

who has also heard of this general. Mellon seeks the truth of his own modern-day war against the ''

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

'' of the modern United States in light of the Confederacy's past struggle with the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. The novel's overall theme is the struggle of the human mind's perceptions and beliefs versus reality. Brautigan completed the novel in 1961 but it was not published until January 22, 1965. The novel sold poorly and soon went

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

but was later republished when Brautigan developed something of a cult following, largely based on his reputation developed in response to his next major work, the novella ''

Trout Fishing in America ''Trout Fishing in America'' is a novella written by Richard Brautigan and published in 1967. It is technically Brautigan's first novel; he wrote it in 1961 before ''A Confederate General from Big Sur'', which was published first. Overview ''Tro ...

''.

References

* Brautigan, Richard (1964). ''A Confederate General From Big Sur''. California:

External links

Entry on Brautigan.net
1965 American novels Novels by Richard Brautigan Fiction set in 1957 1965 debut novels {{1960s-novel-stub