Episodes

by Pierre Delattre

In each generation there are individuals who live at the center of and help develop the principal themes of the age. Though many of these people are not widely known, their lives are exemplary and their influence among a generation's leaders is profound. Pierre Delattre has been, since the 1950s, one of these people, a voyager who remains in the vanguard.

Episodes consists of distilled moments of Delattre has captured the humor, the edge, and the sudden illuminations of the defining moments of his life and his generation. These are tales of his encounters with Albert Schweitzer, Richard Brautigan, Charles de Galle, the Dalai Lama, and Neal Cassady, and of his ministerial work running a North Beach landmark; the Bread and Wine Mission, during the beat/hippy golden age.

These are mystical, cautionary tales by a humorist whose focus is on how superbly the divine is expressed in the ordinary. Delattre is a bit the philosopher, but more the theologian.

Pierre Delattre is a writer, painter, and teacher who currently lives in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Taos and Santa Fe. He is the author of two novels, Walking on Air and Tales of a Dalai Lama , as well as many stories and poems.

Genres: Memoir

190 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

Reviews

[Martha]

I met Pierre Delattre in Taos a few weeks ago in the gallery belonging to him and his wife, Nancy. It was a very remarkable meeting that led me to be curious about the man. I loved his paintings, he let me know he was a writer, had books for sale in his gallery but as I'm also a writer and a painter, I have no money. :) I bought this book used, it's inscribed to other people, with a charming drawing and kind words. It is a book in which Delattre has transcribed brief episodes of his very interesting and very long life.

Delattre was part of the community that existed with the Beats in San Francisco; he ran a coffeehouse in North Beach during those years, so some of his memories will be interesting to readers who love the Beats. He also has lived in Mexico and now lives near Taos in the hills at the foot of the Sangre de Cristos. His writing is friendly, informal and conversational -- this book is somewhere between a conversation or a pile of letters, and very often fascinating, occasionally profound, sometimes funny.

[Bill]

This is a wonderful book written by a man who was there. The origin of the title is that this book was written entirely on a word processor which had a serious problem: it deleted anything over slightly less than a page long. When the magic count was reached, the entire file would vanish. So Pierre had to concentrate on distillation of story as his writing method, and he did get to the essential truth of each episode.
He has lived by painting for several decades now, in a studio in Truchas, New Mexico, on the high road.

[Glenn]

Great read - couldn't put it down. Even after multiple readings. Also very insightful & intelligent in a humble, human & non-intellectual way.

[Colleen]

I loved this and was just thinking it's time to read it again. Anyone sharing? Glenn, Tara?

[Janet]

I enjoyed these meanderings, even if they were a bit erratic.

[Lora]

As I wrote at the time, this book is "a set of stories (each two pages long) of the author's bohemian life [...] -- weird, funny, touching and immensely readable."

[Tasha]

Often humorous and smart vignettes.