Has anyone read any Charles Bukowski?

[mtowngman]

I read "Post Office" this summer and I'm just finishing "Ham On Rye." they're both short novels, easy reads and really funny, poignant stuff. I'm not much of a poetry reader, but I'll check his out.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. enjoy

a treasure of the beat generation.

[baldguy]

2. .

http://progressiveboink.com/archive/peanuts-by-charles-bukowski/

[mtowngman]

4. Thanks for that. Great. n/t

[frylock]

3. ooooooooooooh yeh..

big Buckowski fan here. i've read Post Office, Ham on Rye, Factotum, and Notes From A Dirty Old Man. you'll def want to check out the documentary Born Into This as well.

[Guilded Lilly]

5. Bluebird

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?
C. Bukowski

(yeah, he was a gruff old bird, but there was something quite....touching about his toughness)

[panader0]

8. Thanks for printing that--I really liked it

[ret5hd]

6. The movie "Barfly" is about him...

[mtowngman]

7. yes, saw the movie and liked it long before I ever heard of him...

I think I read that Barfly was based on a play written by Bukowski

[givemebackmycountry]

9. I have a dog eared copy of a Bukowski book that I can't find anywhere else...

I don't even remember where I got it from.

"Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness".

That's the title.
City Lights Books and it's dated 1974.
It has a name written in pen on page one... "Howard Gorbach"

It's all short stories.
Such as:

"Politics is like trying to screw a cat in the ass"
"My Big Assed Mother".
"Ten Jack Offs"
"Great Poets die in steaming pots of shit"

It's a wonderful read and quite possible the foulest book in my collection.
No.
It IS the foulest book in my collection, bar NONE.

[pa28]

10. Try reading "Dangling in the Tournefortia"

It's a good Bukowski poetry collection that reads like short fiction.

Also, don't miss "Factotum". If you liked "Post Office" you'll enjoy that one as well.

[mtowngman]

11. Thanks I will. n/t

[Orrex]

12. "South Of No North" is a magnificent collection of short stories

All of them quick reads, and all of them quintessential Bukowski.

[mtowngman]

13. Thanks n/t

[mitchum]

14. "The Copulating Mermaid of Venice, California" is one of the finest stories I have ever read