At his best, Brautigan was “a connoisseur of the perfect moment”, with a talent for “coaxing something amusing from the mundane”. When the Apollo 17 astronauts discovered a small crater on the Moon, they named it Shorty after a character from Trout Fishing in America. One can conceive of no finer tribute to an authentic American lunatic.
Source: TLS.
Despite praise and recommendations from leading literary figures, no publisher would accept Brautigan’s manuscript for Trout Fishing in America. James Laughlin at New Directions passed it to G. P. Putnam’s Sons, who forwarded it to Dell/Delta who sent the manuscript back to G. P. Putnam’s Sons, who said they would be happy to consider it for publication, but rejected the manuscript in August 1963. Donald Allen then sent the manuscript to Coward-McCann who rejected the manuscript.
Source: Brautigan.net