The Continual Condition: Poems [Hardcover]

Charles Bukowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

A volume of never-before-collected poems from America’s most imitated and influential poet

In the literary pantheon, Charles Bukowski remains a counterculture icon. A hard-drinking wild man of literature, a stubborn outsider to the poetry world, he has struck a chord with generations of readers, writing raw, tough poetry about booze, work, and women that speaks to his fans as being "real" and, like the work of the Beats, even dangerous.

Edited by his longtime publisher John Martin of Black Sparrow Press, The Continual Condition includes more of this legend's never-before-collected poems.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sex, self-disgust, horse racing, literary fame and obscurity, delight in foul language (dry and ridiculous bungholes), and fleeting but genuine pleasures (from voyeurism to eating a spider crab): Bukowski's many, many remaining fans will find familiar themes in this 12th set of previously unpublished poems to appear since the Los Angeles writer died in 1994. The god-damned editors don't know anything, he tells the lady on the couch, and indeed he insists on the life, the meat, of the poems. Short lines dominate this particular cull of verse, with plenty of quoted conversation mixed in; as with most of his work, misanthropy rules, making the flashes of mercy—and of sexual acceptance—shine bright indeed: I was/ sick and I/ turned to look out the/ window/ white yellow grease of/ morning/ burning my/ eyes./ Next to me in bed/ there she was. The poems may repeat themselves, but they stay true to Bukowski. Few people would want to trade places with this poet for whom pain sits, pain floats, pain/ waits;/ pain is, but plenty will continue to cherish his unpretentious words. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, where he lived for fifty years. He published his first story in 1944, when he was twenty-four, and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Ecco; First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061771201
• ISBN-13: 978-0061771200
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, where he lived for fifty years. He published his first story in 1944, when he was twenty-four, and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp (1994).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many reprinted poems!, November 4, 2009

By 

Bookworm - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Continual Condition: Poems (Hardcover)

It's a great although thinner collection of poems than we're used to. Usually, collections of Bukowski poems comes in much thicker volumes for the same price as this new collection costs.

I'm a big Bukowski fan but I can only give it three stars because at least 14 of the 63 poems are reprints from previous collections. A couple of the 14 poems have been altered slightly, but the rest are complete reprints. That's over 22% of the poems!

Some of the reprinted poems are from the "Bone Palace Ballet" collection. The poem called "My art form", was called, "My style" in "Bone Palace Ballet. The other are, "Full circle" and "The strange morning". "Mountain of horror" is almost the same as "Mountain", "Rejected" same as "My worst rejection slip", "Tragedy" is almost the same as "Reunion" in "Bone Palace Ballet".

From "Sifting Through The Garbage...": "Listening to the radio at 1:35 am"

From "The Flash Of Lightning...": "The last winter", "Moving towards age 73" same as "Poem for the young and tough" in "The Flash..."

From "War All The Time": "A hot sweaty day in August", "The continual condition" is the same as "The condition", "The last race" is the same as Part III in "Horsemeat"

From "What Matters Most...": "Thanks for the luck" same as "Thanks for that"

From "Play The Piano...": "To kiss her long dark hair" same as "To weep" in "Play The Piano..."

Although the collection is great, I would still recommend buying another Bukowski poem collection instead if you have'nt read all the previous ones already. You'll get a better bargain that way, because most of the other collections are up to 400 pages long and the price is about the same as for this one - or cheaper!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "another dirty trick in a dirty trick world", January 18, 2010

By 

Robert Zverina "Picture of the Day" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Continual Condition: Poems (Hardcover)

Fifteen years after Bukowski's death it looks like the barrel of poems he left behind to be posthumously published has finally reached bottom. At a meager 127 pages (previous collections averaged better than 300 pages with the one before this weighing in at a hefty 550 pages) one surmises that the material has either run out or the publisher has decided to milk the remainder for all it is worth by trickling it out in smaller doses. Either way, I suspect this is the last book of Bukowski's poems I will buy.

Not only is there not much good new stuff here, but despite the dust jacket's claim of "never-before-collected" (sic) at least 15% of the pages are devoted to poems which were published almost verbatim in previous volumes. "a hot sweaty day in August" appeared as "a sweaty day in August" in War All the Time (1984) and "Mountain of Horror", "The Strange Morning", and "Full Circle" appeared as "Mountain", "The Strange Morning Outside the Bar", and "Full Circle" in Bone Palace Ballet (1997).

The final lines of that last poem sum up this collection nicely:
another dirty trick in a dirty trick
world

Do yourself a favor and get your Bukowski fix by finding the classic old Black Sparrow editions of his work, including the two mentioned above. There's more there, both in quantity and quality, and the books themselves have more integrity as objects than the more recent Harper Collins/ecco offerings.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VISCERAL (YET SLIM) EARLY BUKOWSKI, November 2, 2009

By 

Stuart Jefferson (San Diego,Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Continual Condition: Poems (Hardcover)

Hardcover,127 pages,not including title page,contents,etc. The paper stock is a cream-white,and the type face is very easy to read-even in a "poetry format". The cover consists of a number of drawings which look (and may be) by Charles Bukowski. I base this conclusion on a couple of hardcover editions of one of his books I own,from years ago,where Bukowski did a self-portrait in pen on one of the blank pages,which seem identical in style and feel. This book is actually between 3 and 4 "stars" because of the availability of some of the poems and the slim number of pages in the book itself.

This (slim) collection of poetry is yet more unpublished work by Bukowski,collected by his long time publisher,John Martin. A number of these poems were originally published as broadsides by some VERY small publishers years ago. Having been a long-time reader of Bukowski,the feel of these unpublished poems is from his earlier (there are no publishing dates) and some say best stages,when his writing was even less self-aware than it became later on.

The subject matter is typical (read "my soul is gone",or "you've seen it on the barstool next to you", as examples) Bukowski-bars,drinking,women,horse tracks,lonely late-nights or just plain loneliness,etc. However,the writing style is a bit more immediate,a bit more visceral in feeling. The words of each poem seem to fit together tightly,with little that is expendable. These are simple,straight forward thoughts and pictures that Bukowski was a master at putting together. There are a few poems from later in his life,which are obvious from the subject matter (having money,a house,etc),but they are sprinkled throughout sparingly.

For readers of Bukowski who like his earlier work,this is something to look out for. For those who like his later stages of writing,this will give some (small) insight into how it all began. An expensive book for the number of poems,but the style,the subjects,and Bukowski's outlook on life as he sees,lives,(and writes about) it,is,perhaps,worth it. I wonder if this is perhaps the last book we'll see of Bukowski's work-this is slim pickings for the money being charged. Hopefully its not strictly a money-making-bottom-of-the-barrel release. But with several titles in this edition already published and available,the feeling of Bukowski's name = $ begins to creep in.