Shakespeare Never Did This [Paperback]

Charles Bukowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2002

An account of Charles Bukowski's 1978 European trip. In 1978 Europe was new territory for Bukowski holding the secrets of his own personal ancestry and origins. En route to his birthplace in Andernach, Germany, he is trailed by celebrity-hunters and paparazzi, appears drunk on French television, blows a small fortune at a Dusseldorf racetrack and stands in a Cologne Cathedral musing about life and death.

Editorial Reviews

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

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Ecco; 2nd printing edition (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876859686
• ISBN-13: 978-0876859681
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,308,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bukowski at play in Europe..., May 28, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Shakespeare Never Did This (Hardcover)

Shakespeare Never Did This is the full account of Bukowski's literary trip to France and Germany. Michael Montfort accompanied him and adds some terrific photos. Full desriptions of interviews, readings and parties are included in this interesting autobiographical notebook. Montfort's photos capture the mysterious essence of the poet as he travels Europe as the "Ugly American". Bukowski comes close to the same brilliance found in Ham On Rye as he visits his birthplace in Germany. In a haunting dialog he contrasts his Uncle's views of his father with the frightening images from Bukowski's past. Included are about a dozen poems written during his trip, some of which will interest any Bukowski fan, and the photos help round out our idea of the enigmatic writer. While this is not fiction, it is an honest account of an interesting journey. Bukowski fluxuates from relative obscurity in France to immense popularity in Hamburg Germany, where he reads to crowds of thousands. This book is a must for the Bukowski fans who wants to see more of what Charles Bukowski was really like. Both the honesty of Montfort's camera and the straightforward style of Bukowski's prose help achieve this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars add it to your buk collection, November 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Shakespeare Never Did This (Paperback)

Beautifully written by the master with wonderful black and white photos to match re Buk's trip to Europe. He gets kicked off a French tv station for drunken behavior and also visits his place of birth: Hamburg, Germany. Who could ask for more? Nice job all around. Love the title.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars read these pictures carefully, January 16, 2001

By 

99 I Love You "dabman" (Vista, CA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shakespeare Never Did This (Hardcover)

here, and nowhere else is the edge between life (read madness) (screaming late at night alone in the bathroom about toads and death, until his girlfriend brings him to bed, and not remembering it in the morning) and art this thin. ever. if you are curious about these things hold this up to the light like a black and white negative and regard it carefully.