Imagine a post apocalyptic world through the eyes of an acid-freaked hippie and you have "In Watermelon Sugar."

In Watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I'll tell you about it because I am here and you are distant.

From the first line you get a sense of a world not quite what it should be, but not necessarily a bad world. The story is seen through the gentle eyes of an unnamed narrator, who observes the full range of human emotions with a childlike wonder.

Imagine a Utopia where everything you could ever need or want can be derived from boiling watermelons down to their essence to create a sugar. In the town of iDEATH, the residents are unflappable when it comes to the drama of life, each of them taking milestone events in their stride. The world that came before is gone, and in this harmonious society the villains even take care of themselves, thus eliminating the need for the happy folk to deal with unpleasant situations.

Brautigan weaves symbolism so simply into complex emotions, that at times it's easy to forget the weightier messages hidden in the story. Written in California in 1964, it's clear Brautigan was influenced by the hippie movement. Nearly forty years later, "In Watermelon Sugar" remains a strong cautionary tale for humanity: learn to live in harmony with each other or suffer the consequences.