Open All Night (Paperback)

by Charles Bukowski (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
During his lifetime, Bukowski (1920-94) acquired a global following for his verse and prose depictions of down-and-outs, small-time gamblers and tormented, ambitious failures in his native Los Angeles. The confrontational post-Beat poet and novelist left behind a vast archive of manuscripts, from which this seventh posthumous book of verse has been drawn. The thick volume (like his other books) includes plenty of casual anecdotes, fiery catalogues of others' woes, and dejected musings on his own persistent drinking, sometime poverty, and mood swings. It includes, too, the off-color language and sexual escapades (some triumphant, most embarrassing) that have always ranked among Bukowski's attractions. His familiar world of "bums and heroes" in "tiny rooms" where "each meal was/ a miracle and/ the week's rent/ more so" comes to the fore quickly, and as usual, there's something to it. Heroes range from anonymous pals to Toulouse-Lautrec and Delmore Schwartz. Some poems examine Bukowski's problematic attitudes toward sex and romance: "no matter what woman I'm with," Bukowski declares in one such poem, "people ask me,/ are you still with her?" Bukowskian figures more typically find solace at racetracks, with whores, with liquor ("I drank and I drank and/ I drank in my room") and finally in writing, which lets them "kiss the sweet lips of this dirty/ world/ goodbye." Nobody will be converted to Bukowski by these verses, but that's hardly the point: like William Burroughs or Jim Morrison, Bukowski in death retains the tenacious (and mostly youthful) fan base he gathered in life. (Dec.) Forecast: Bukowski's books are perhaps best known among booksellers for the rate at which they are stolen. Black Sparrow has done well so far with each new salvo of Bukowskiana; there's no reason to think this book of poems will fall short of previous marks. (Booksellers might want to keep them behind the counter with a note tacked to the 'B' shelfAadds to the mystique.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Black Sparrow says it has still more uncollected Bukowski in the barrel, but much in the sixth posthumous gathering of the roughneck bard's leavings sure sounds like bottom-scrapings. For instance, the poem that ends, "I am a beautiful person. / and you are. / and she is. / as is the yellow thumping of the sun and the glory of the world." It is hard to believe Buk would have tolerated the last line's personification of thumping and glory while he was alive, or the poem's egregious lack of irony. Yet this, including several of the bad poems, is way funnier than practically any other poet's stuff these days. Buk's life--full of blue-collar jobs, smoking and drinking, playing the horses, basking in classical music on the radio, going on tears naked, shacking up with a succession of floozies and the occasional wife, midnight typing, and lots of driving--was a dingy fountain of low-life literary comedy. There are better books for one's first taste of Bukowski, but this one will do fine for connoisseurs. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ecco; 3rd Printing edition (May 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574231359
• ISBN-13: 978-1574231359
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,138,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly poetic, May 19, 2004

By	SPM "scott_maykrantz" (Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews

Bukowski was the master of the personal detail. In these poems, released after his death, he examines his life with a drunken smile. He digs out the most significant moments of his life at the race track, among old friends, writing at night, listening to classical music, thinking about old girlfriends, and his childhood. He has a knack for mentioning the moments that matter, and leaving out the details that distract you from the point he's making. Every poem is good. This is one of his best books.

The poems are arranged in four sections. As you read, you realize that there's an underlying theme for each section. The first section, for example, is about burying the past. Each poem adds a thin layer to the theme until you feel it. It's quite an experience because it's so unpretentious --- he seems to be telling stories without any connection, but eventually you get the deeper story on your own.

I highly recommend this book. If you haven't read Bukowski's poetry before, this is a good place to start. Long-time fans will find this one a little flat, simply because it doesn't do anything new. They've heard all of these tales before. (But repetition was one of Bukowski's most endearing traits. He used it instead of a formal writing style.) So try Open All Night. You'll be pleased.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Tom Waits of poetry/prose..., February 3, 2005

By	Jack Dempsey (South Miami Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

I find it funny (truthfully, somewhat sad) when others give this piece anything less than five stars and dismiss it is as "not his best" work. On his worst day Buk could have typed one sentence better than a lifetime of the sewage spewed by such people. This collection is definitely a testament to that fact, as others below have astutely recognized.

If you've gotten ANY appreciation for Buk, do not hesitate to add this to your collection. It has some of the finest moments of Buk that I have ever come across, and that is definitely saying alot as I have read most of his work. There are moments contained within the corners of these pages, that are nothing less than inspiring. I certainly will be the first to admit that I cannot find words to desribe it, so I won't even try. Just rest assured that it is well worth your money to get this collection and do not believe the ramblings of others that this is somehow inferior Buk. Buk could simply do no wrong when it came to his craft.

Get this and cherish it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not one word wasted, December 21, 2000

By A Customer

It's not just the sorry world his poetry echoes, but the massive machinery of Bukowski's technique that amazes. How spare, how cutting his line divisions, how they leave you gaping in mid-air. The man obviously studied as well as passively listened to the music he wrote about; it measures his lines and puts his sounds in invisibly proper order.

The book is a collection of character sketches in a world where ignobility wins trophies and troubles keep them polished and best of all it comes with the half-ring of a whiskey-glass stain on the rear cover.