11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like Sunsets, Buk's Books are Similar but No Two the Same..., January 27, 2006
John Martin "discovered" Bukowski. Although Bukowski had published before--including some beautiful small editions by Jon and Louise Webb of LouJon Press--it was publisher John Martin who propelled Bukowski into wide readership. And it was the strength of Bukowski's writing which gave Black Sparrow, Martin's small publishing house, its wings.
Martin liberated Bukowski from his job at the post office by offering him a $100/month stipend for life (a liveable wage at that time) so that Bukowski could write full time. The almost immediate result was Bukowski's first novel, Post Office, which was completed six weeks after he left his job.
For decades to come, Bukowski would send typed pages of poetry to Martin who would assemble them into books, the covers of which were designed by Martin's wife Barbara. A great part of the appeal of Black Sparrow editions is that they were about nothing but themselves--there were no blurbs, no extraneous hyping text, and even the barcodes were stickers which could be peeled off, leaving the uniformly sized covers immaculate.
Although Bukowski died in 1994, he left an immense backlog of poetry with Martin for posthumous publication. In that sense, their relationship stays the same. Sadly, Martin sold Black Sparrow in 2002.
He is still editing the collections of "new" Bukowski poetry, but the books themselves, now published by Harper Collins (under their Ecco Press imprint), lack the grace and stylistic unity of the Black Sparrow editions. The new editions are released as tacky hardbacks (to maximize profits) with textbook binding, complete with barcode printed right on the cover. Too bad.
But that's a minor concern. What matters most are the words, which come to us fresh even 12 years after Bukowski's death. The usual themes are here: guarding privacy, celebrating animals, lambasting poet wannabes, and awaiting death with dignity. Plus a few narrative poems which read like distilled short stories.
If you like Buk, you'll like this book. Always a good read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another stunning collection..., April 13, 2006
I've become a real fan of Bukowski's work over the past four years, and read everything I can get my hands on. So far my favorite of all has been "Betting On The Muse", but this one is a very close second. Sure he's vulgar and rough, and it's poetry with images and language not for the weakhearted. But he still manages to deliver these lines within his world that just stun you. A definite must-read if you're a fan.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buk Hits the Trifecta, January 7, 2006
In the latest from the archive of his poetry comes a luminous(he would have hated the word but understood its truth) book, written near the end of his life. The old themes are there: finding out that tragedy is getting what you want, as he observes in "the waitress at the yogurt shop", the boys drooling around her, fixated on her body and oblivious to the harsh and hissing voice and pities the future husband listening to its "horrible reality." Yet there is more of the domestic, an old mans' happiness on learning to type poems---more and more---on a computer,"going,going,gone") and a bravdo, both real,"the last good night/is not yet here" from "taking the 8 count", and false ,as in "hello there", "when death comes with its last cold kiss/ i'll be ready;just another whore come to shake me down." And the final poem,"mind and heart" a graceful good bye to life.It is Bukowski at his best---knowing that for every hard truth there is a saving grace.
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