Dream Fishing the Little Spokane

by Jeffrey Dunn

Overview

Rooted in the Little Spokane River drainage, Jeffrey Dunn’s novel Dream Fishing the Little Spokane is as local as it is American. For those who remember Richard Brautigan, this little book is a Trout Fishing in America for the 21^st Century.

Meet the legendary Viper Bugloss who inhabits abandoned trailers and preys on campgrounds. Take a road trip with Carl Jung and his mother up the Little Spokane River to find “the split” in consciousness. Go on an erotic journey with Anais Nin to the Waikiki Ranch. Check into the Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library where forgotten voices come to mind. Eavesdrop on Walt Whitman and Chief Spokane Garry as they wrestle with the material problem that is America. Hang in the slack water with Mister White, a neighboring mountain whitefish who corresponds with the speaker.

Although the fiction does not have the traditional long-form character and plot development, certain themes recur. One concerns the treatment of children. Working class Donny, foster child Finley, and the young Chief Spokane Garry—all exemplify the precarious position of America’s youth. Another concerns the impact of capitalism. Homeless Viper Bugloss, squatter Peamouth, and the middle-aged Chief Spokane Garry—all speak to the effects of burgeoning commodification. Of final concern are crimes against the environment. Dog death by decree, turtle death by pickup, and fish death by shotgun—all point to a callous disregard of anything more than singular self-interest.

Visit Dream Fishing the Little Spokane today. Once you’ve been there and back, America will never again look quite the same.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780999333914
Publisher:	Jeffrey Scott Dunn
Publication date:	10/02/2017
Pages:	154
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.36(d)

About the Author

Jeffrey Dunn was spawned in Chicago and raised in a Pittsburgh rearing tank. Once out to sea, he swam among various schools, earning a BA in English and MA in Education from Allegheny College and a Ph.D. in English Literature and Culture Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. He returned to the fresh water of parochial and public schools and taught English to smolts. He was transplanted to Washington State in 1993 and later to the Little Spokane River Drainage in 2002. Washington State's OPSI, ESD 101, and Education Association have judged Jeffrey's teaching to be Premium, which is to say a sea-fresh odor, bright and clear eyes, bright red gills, and a bright and natural body cavity. His teaching also has no fin damage or tail loss.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

The Cover for Dream Fishing the Little Spokane (Part One) Axe Notched Lovingly for You 1

The Cover for Dream Fishing the Little Spokane (Part Two) Words in My Mouth 5

Little Spokane Welcome Wagon 7

Nominating Viper Bugloss for the Noxious Weed Board 9

Little Spokane River Koan #1 15

Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library 16

Footnotes to the Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library Chapter 22

Spokane Death Sentence 27

Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Goes to School 28

Anxiety Comes to the House on Thor 32

Crystal Palace Slave Ship 39

Wandermere Ski Jump 47

The Great Northern Train Wreck 48

The Day Carl Young Came to Milan 56

A Shotgun Blast Meets the Johnstown Flood 62

Mister White Does Genealogy 63

The Whiteness of Mister White 67

Another Place to Find Viper Bugloss 71

The Little Spokane Attorney 76

The Autopsy for Dream Fishing the Little Spokane 78

The Last Letter of Mister White 82

Autism on Deadman Creek 84

Making Coffins on Dry Creek 91

Rattlesnake Hill Capitalism 93

Bringing Religion 95

Little Spokane River Koan #2 96

Jaco Finlay Blues 97

Turtle Death by Pickup 100

What the Biker Chick Said 103

The Out-of-the-Way Alley Forge 107

Brautigan’s Closet 111

What Anais Nin Said 114

The Day Walt Whitman Came to Inchitensee 118

Little Spokane River Koan #3 134

The Last Time I Saw Viper Bugloss 135

Peamouth 139

Little Spokane River Koan #4 143

Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Questions 144

Editorial Reviews

"Dream Fishing is a hoot that goes down easy. I can hear Dunn's voice as if we were walking through the bugloss with that teacher's class from North Carolina, trying to convince them it wasn't all that surreal." -- Jack Nisbet, naturalist and writer, author of David Douglas: a Naturalist at Work

A debut abstract novel ponders the intersection of nature, history, and writing.

The Little Spokane River, a 35-mile-long tributary of the Spokane River in eastern Washington state, is the geographic and spiritual nexus for this episodic tale. “Dream Fishing” is somewhat equivalent to daydreaming or woolgathering: the narrators meander through the countryside and around the riverbanks, sharing anecdotes about local characters, buildings, and books and articles they have read as well as an assortment of koans, fables, and bits of folklore. “Think of Dream Fishing as a train wreck or a library or even a visit with Carl Jung,” Dunn advises readers at one point. “Think of Dream Fishing as something in a child’s hand.” In “The Great Northern Train Wreck,” a foster child fishes for tench on the Chain Lakes and catches the ID plate from a derailed locomotive. In “What the Biker Chick Said,” the eponymous woman details the recipe for Spam fried rice at the Dragoon Creek Campground. In “Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library,” the narrator imagines a ghostly library among the old and forgotten cemeteries in the environs of the river. In a characteristic display of metafictional winking, the subsequent chapter is called “Footnotes to the Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library Chapter.” It begins: “I was thinking you might like some explanation for what’s in the ‘Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library’ chapter. You might have the impression that we writers sometimes get a bit carried away.” These short pieces, which turn away from one another and back again like bends in the river itself, accumulate in readers’ minds to form a picture not just of a place, but of a certain mindset: melancholic, irreverent, and untamed.

Dunn writes in a conversational prose that is nevertheless capable of moments of sincere lyricism: “I was thinking about America’s children, the way they leave their morning homes, sleepy eyed, their breath fogging the frostbite air.” At other points, he seems to attempt to goad readers into skipping ahead to the next chapter, offering a timeline of the events in the life of a 19th-century police officer or a chart of “U.S. Yearly Road Kill Estimates.” While certain characters recur, the protagonist of this wayward text is Dunn himself, leading readers through a series of mostly unrelated segments. The author references Richard Brautigan several times throughout the volume. Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America is clearly the primary influence here. For some readers that may be welcome; for others, it may be a good sign that they should stay away. As in Brautigan’s books, Dunn’s work operates by its own internal logic that is often quite opaque. One exchange between characters early on accurately captures the experience of reading the novel: “What do you think of that?” “Wow, that’s quite a story.” “Sure is. Makes you think, doesn’t it?” “Maybe. Makes you think about what?” “I don’t know, just makes you think.” Indeed.

A Brautigan-esque ramble through a river’s history. -- Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-11-07
A debut abstract novel ponders the intersection of nature, history, and writing. The Little Spokane River, a 35-mile-long tributary of the Spokane River in eastern Washington state, is the geographic and spiritual nexus for this episodic tale. "Dream Fishing" is somewhat equivalent to daydreaming or woolgathering: the narrators meander through the countryside and around the riverbanks, sharing anecdotes about local characters, buildings, and books and articles they have read as well as an assortment of koans, fables, and bits of folklore. "Think of Dream Fishing as a train wreck or a library or even a visit with Carl Jung," Dunn advises readers at one point. "Think of Dream Fishing as something in a child's hand." In "The Great Northern Train Wreck," a foster child fishes for tench on the Chain Lakes and catches the ID plate from a derailed locomotive. In "What the Biker Chick Said," the eponymous woman details the recipe for Spam fried rice at the Dragoon Creek Campground. In "Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library," the narrator imagines a ghostly library among the old and forgotten cemeteries in the environs of the river. In a characteristic display of metafictional winking, the subsequent chapter is called "Footnotes to the Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library Chapter." It begins: "I was thinking you might like some explanation for what's in the ‘Dream Fishing the Little Spokane Library' chapter. You might have the impression that we writers sometimes get a bit carried away." These short pieces, which turn away from one another and back again like bends in the river itself, accumulate in readers' minds to form a picture not just of a place, but of a certain mindset: melancholic, irreverent, and untamed. Dunn writes in a conversational prose that is nevertheless capable of moments of sincere lyricism: "I was thinking about America's children, the way they leave their morning homes, sleepy eyed, their breath fogging the frostbite air." At other points, he seems to attempt to goad readers into skipping ahead to the next chapter, offering a timeline of the events in the life of a 19th-century police officer or a chart of "U.S. Yearly Road Kill Estimates." While certain characters recur, the protagonist of this wayward text is Dunn himself, leading readers through a series of mostly unrelated segments. The author references Richard Brautigan several times throughout the volume. Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America is clearly the primary influence here. For some readers that may be welcome; for others, it may be a good sign that they should stay away. As in Brautigan's books, Dunn's work operates by its own internal logic that is often quite opaque. One exchange between characters early on accurately captures the experience of reading the novel: "What do you think of that?" "Wow, that's quite a story." "Sure is. Makes you think, doesn't it?" "Maybe. Makes you think about what?" "I don't know, just makes you think." Indeed. A Brautigan-esque ramble through a river's history.

Kirkus Reviews