Customer Reviews

Hot Water Music

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ah, the Drunken Master his own self...here he is at his best, writing pleasingly spare and oft hilarious vignettes of his later life's ramblings through the bars and bedrooms of Hollywood's seedier avenues.

Not recommended if you don't like to drink, laugh and/or are easily offended...Buk is as far from politically correct as Santa is from Antartica...but oh man, the laughs that his laconic delivery can produce!

His genius also lies in his occasional moments of true clarity...once in a while he flat out nails what it is to be human, male, drunk, or just a bum treading water while waiting for St. Peter's inevitable rejection.

Of the great writers in the English language, few other than Chaucer are this saucy and brazen and unabashed...and yes, I think Buk's best work can stand beside Joyce and Hem and Whitman and even the mighty Shake when it comes to revealing some of life's truths. Especially the antisocial male's truths. Bukowski keeps it simple and to the point, and has a special talent for revealing the joys of the mundane...his territory is very much his own, the hallmark of a truly classic writer.

Be forewarned, there are some verrrrry edgy moments here...but CB's willingness to confront aspects of the human (well, male--very male) psyche that others dare not go near makes him the unique freak that he is.

His poetry comes and goes, as do his novels, though Post Office and Women are classics. His short stories have the most humor and twisted pathos, and this is the best collection, methinks. "The Great Poet" alone is worth the price of admission. Buk loves to hold the idiocy of fame and our culture's shallowness up to the light...usually the barroom light...and no one else has quite his way with love scenes...if you can call them that...

Many women find Bukowski to be a pig. Fair enough. But when you're wondering if your new girl will put up with you in the long run, give her this and wait for the reaction. If she laughs, you're good to go.

Warning: this book will make you want to crack a cold one or three, or seven, just to enjoy the happily nihilistic thrill of not giving a damn.

I don't reread many books...life is too short, with too many books left to enjoy...but this one gets read at least once a year, usually when I need the solace and joy of drinking a few too many at two in the morning while laughing my ass off.

One of the funniest books of all time, if you like your laughs a little warped.

This work of short stories really got me more interested in Bukowski. I got started on the Buk addiction in a rather strange way - with his last novel "PULP" (which really is atypical of Charles). My second book was also a novel, "Post Office"- exquisite stuff. Anyways, these shorts are much more in-line with his Post Office days and leave you wanting to go on a bender and smash something valuable... in a good way of course. If you've never read Bukowski then this book should give you a pretty good flavor of his style (straight-from-the-(beer)-gut, unforgiving amusement for the soul).

From my perspective, you can read Bukowski 2 ways: for sheer amusement of a great story teller or as a poet-by-compulsion (or both together, as I prefer). Either way - he's good!

My shelf of Bukowski's poetry and prose is testament to the tremendous pleasure I've taken over the last twenty-five years reading his work. He's unique, and although at first he may strike you as a guilty pleasure at best, he's profound. He's also detested by some -- especially women who consider him misogynistic. Decide for yourself, but don't judge him by this book, which is about as close to hack work as he's come -- although Bukowski's hack work beats a lots of others' best. Try Women, The Most Beautiful Woman in Town, or Mockingbird Wish Me Luck.

I am quite the fan of Bukowski. I enjoyed Factotum, Pulp, and Post Office in particular, and I think Ham On Rye is a work of art. Perhaps the only real catch to Bukowski's work is that he is something of a one trick pony. Don't get me wrong, though. It's still a good trick.

Where Bukowski fails in his writing (when he fails at all) is when he allows his nihilism to devolve into creative redundancy. He doesn't have very many points to make, and sometimes he tends to make them in the same way. Still, the man is a craftsman when it comes to the rough-hewn and the unflinching gaze of existentialism.

This is why I was disappointed by Hot Water Music.

Bukowski's themes (which are a lot deeper than just drunkeness, sex, ambivalence, and poverty, as some of the other reviews here seem to suggest) translate remarkably well when they are drawn out novelistically by his crisp, spare prose and his dry, gritty dialogue. In his books he takes his time teasing his message out of dark shadows and, when it is exposed to the light, he crushes its skull with a sledgehammer.

Short stories, of course, don't give him as much leisure for dilly-dallying, and as a result his work here is blunter (inasumcuh as that's possible) and duller and far more repetitive. The majority of these stories are about, of course, ambiently depressed alcoholics who haven't the motivation or energy to do anything but keep digging their own grave. You read enough stories about soused women farting and horny men with hemorrhoids and your head starts to swim. Some people might argue that these stories are meant simply to be funny, and depending on your sense of humor, they are -- but no one likes to hear the same joke told ten, twelve, or twenty times in a row. Unless, of course, you really really like the joke.

The more absurd pieces (You Kissed Lilly, Strokes to Nowhere, and I Love You, Albert) are fun enough, and although their playfulness tends to be vacuous, they are still chewy enough to be enjoyable. And there are really some remarkably subtle and clever stories here as well. Most notable among these are Cold Night, The Upward Bird, Beer at the Corner Bar, The Death of the Father II, In and Out and Over, and Head Job.

In these Bukowski trades in his usual and obvious attempts at crassness and crudity for a more ghostly skill: the stories are delivered with his typical point-blank attitude, but their profundity is couched without bravado or brassiness. His short stories work best when they avoid the more blatant trademarks of his novels -- liquor-soaked abuse and disdain. Head Job, especially, is notable for being the first time that I have ever read Bukowski write something from a woman's point of view, and he does it admirably.

This is a decent but repetitive collection of stories, with gems interspersed throughout, but the overall impression is mostly lukewarm, although hardcore fans will love it.

The only Bukowski stuff that is "bad" is the stuff published long after his death. It is no longer has an organic feel and much of it is churned out, so it seems, to make money. This volume was published during his lifetime, so it is very much worth a look and a read.

I recently saw the movie barfly and I was totally entertained and wanted to know more about the person behind the script, hence, Charles Bukowski. His writing is rapid fire and from the gut. I have a tape of his from when he gave a poetry reading and you can tell he talks like he writes. Truly a significant talent. I am now reading one Bukowski after another. Another favorite of short stories is "Tales of a dirty old man". There are some stories I have read from him that STILL have me laughing at just the thought of them, 3 months after reading them. He is the underground genius of American literature.

Length:: 5:47 Mins

Charles Bukowski is always a fun writer to read and I enjoy him very much. I'd put this collection ahead of Tales of Ordinary Madness and South of No North.

i've read every single bukowski novel and short story collection, as well as a bunch of his poetry. for some reason, this book sticks out as my favorite. As far as his short story collections go, this is a really strong collection of him during his peak creative period.

read it twice.

Gripping stories and poems from a man forged by the tragedies of life. I've read nearly 2 dozen of his books and this is my favorite.

not my favorite of hank's short stories but interesting enough to read all the way thru