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Charles Bukowski

Absence of the Hero Paperback – April 1, 2010

by Charles Bukowski (Author), David Calonne (Editor)

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Everyone’s favorite Dirty Old Man returns with a new volume of uncollected work. Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), one of the most outrageous figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so prolific that many significant pieces never found their way into his books. Absence of the Hero contains much of his earliest fiction, unseen in decades, as well as a number of previously unpublished stories and essays. The classic Bukowskian obsessions are here: sex, booze, and gambling, along with trenchant analysis of what he calls "Playing and Being the Pet." Among the book's highlights are tales of his infamous public readings ("The Big Dope Reading," "I Just Write Poetry So I Can Go to Bed with Girls"); a review of his own first book; hilarious installments of his newspaper column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, including meditations on neo-Nazis and driving in Los Angeles; and an uncharacteristic tale of getting lost in the Utah woods ("Bukowski Takes a Trip"). Yet the book also showcases the other Bukowski—an astute if offbeat literary critic. From his own "Manifesto" to his account of poetry in Los Angeles ("A Foreword to These Poets") to idiosyncratic evaluations of Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, LeRoi Jones, and Louis Zukofsky, Absence of the Hero reveals the intellectual hidden beneath the gruff exterior.

Our second volume of his uncollected prose, Absence of the Hero is a major addition to the Bukowski canon, essential for fans, yet suitable for new readers as an introduction to the wide range of his work.

"He loads his head full of coal and diamonds shoot out of his finger tips. What a trick. The mole genius has left us with another digest. It's a full house—read 'em and weep."—Tom Waits

"This second volume of Bukowski's uncollected stories and essays offers all that Bukowski is known for—wry obscenity, smutty wisdom, seeming ramblings whose hidden smarts catch you unaware—but in addition there are moments here in which he takes off the mask and strips away the bravado to show himself at his most vulnerable and human. A must for Bukowski aficionados."—Brian Evenson, author of Last Days and The Open Curtain

"Like a brass-rail Existentialist or a skid-row Transcendentalist, [Bukowski] is candid, unblinking, leaving it to his readers to cast their own judgment about his mishaps, his drinking, his sexual appetite or his own pessimism. He is Ralph Waldo Emerson as a Dirty Old Man, not lounging in the grape-arbor of Concord, Massachusetts, but bent-over a table in an L.A. flophouse scribbling in pencil to the strains of Sibelius."—Paul Maher Jr., Phawker

"[Bukowski] could be generous and mean-spirited, heroic and defensive, spot-on and slanted, but he became the world-class writer he had set out to be; he has joined the permanent anti-canon or shadow-canon whose denizens had shown him the way. Today the frequent allusions to him in both popular and mainstream culture tend more to respect than mockery. If scholarship has lagged, this book would indicate that this situation is changing."—Gerald Locklin, Resources for American Literary Study

"The pieces range over nearly half a century, and include a story about a baseball player seized by a sudden bout of existential paralysis, along with early, graphically sexual (and masterfully comic) stories published in such smut mags as Candid Press."—Penthouse

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Editorial Reviews

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"Charles Bukowski, the late poet best known for his odes to sex, booze and general skid-row squalor, turns reflective in much of Absence of the Hero: Uncollected Stories and Essays, Vol. 2: 1946-1992. In one piece, titled "He Beats His Women," Bukowski touches on a visit to these parts: 'The only time I read in San Francisco, 800 people arrived and 100 of those arrived with buckets of garbage to throw at me. At 2 bucks a head, that garbage didn't smell too bad.'"—San Francisco Chronicle

"When Bukowski sat down at his trusted Underwood typewriter to 'play the piano,' it was the only time in his life he felt immortal, with every word painstakingly chosen and direct from the gut. If you haven't had the pleasure of digging into one of his already published works, these easily digestible stories are a perfect starting point."—Johnson Cummins, The Montreal Mirror

"Even after he published more than 50 books, Bukowski (1920-1994) left behind dozens of unpublished stories and essays. U.S. American literature scholar Calonne, who also edited Vol. 1 of Bukowski's unpublished works, provides an informative and informed introduction and a useful set of notes."—The Toronto Globe and Mail

"But unlike 'Exit to Brooklyn' and other erotically charged American tales of urban horror and desperation, many of Bukowski's short stories actually leave one with a warm glow, whether from reluctant but real love, brilliant delineation of sociological phenomena in America or, once in a while, juicy science fiction."—Adam Perry, Boulder Weekly

"Charles Bukowski, prophet of the lost, deacon of the mean and insane…In Absence of the Hero, City Lights' second posthumous volume of uncollected stories and essays, we're given samples spanning almost his entire career. There are moments of brilliance and flickers of light…"—Chico News and Review

"City Lights take their Bukowski uncollected stories and essays seriously and David Calonne has meticulously assembled and documented the two volumes of this series…this is essential reading for every Bukophile."—Bold Monkey

"[Bukowski] seems to be one of those rare writers who learns not by emulating a given model but by reading his own stuff as he writes and rediscovering for himself the dignity of form…A low-life raconteur and a dimestore perv, Bukowski was the life of the party night after night. When you open any of his books, that party goes on."—Said Shirazi, Fifth Wednesday Journal

About the Author

Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany in 1920 and brought to Los Angeles at age three. Using the city as a backdrop for his work, Bukowski wrote prolifically, publishing over fifty volumes of poetry and prose. He died in San Pedro, California on March 9, 1994. His books are widely translated and posthumous volumes continue to appear.

David Calonne is the editor of a previous book of uncollected Bukowski, Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook, as well as a volume of interviews, Charles Bukowski: Sunshine Here I Am. He presently teaches at East Michigan University.

Product details

Item Weight : 14.5 ounces
Paperback : 300 pages
ISBN-10 : 0872865312
ISBN-13 : 978-0872865310
Product Dimensions : 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
Publisher : City Lights Publishers; First Edition (April 1, 2010)
Language: : English

Best-sellers rank #1,223,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#2,519 in American Fiction Anthologies
#6,473 in Fiction Urban Life
#18,779 in Short Stories (Books)

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GOOD UNCOLLECTED STORIES AND ESSAYS SPANNING ALMOST HALF A CENTURY

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2010

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Trade size soft cover edition. Two pages of acknowledgments. Fifteen page introduction,including notes.272 pages of writings. Also there's a source page,which is helpful in placing the various writings,in chronological order.

This is the second volume of uncollected writings published by City Lights Books. Like the first,this volume has a number of writings that were in limited circulation many years ago,along with unpublished pieces. The themes are typical Bukowski-love/depraved love,drinking,women,gambling,literature/authors,and Bukowski's sometimes wry observations of people,events,or himself (the piece"80 Airplanes Don't Put You in the Clear" is the first place that Bukowski refers to the narrator as "Hank"). And there are several other pieces that use his literary alter-ego,using variations of his given name throughout the book.

These pieces begin in the mid 1940's and conclude in early 1992. From early magazine fiction in the 40's ("Love,Love,Love"),to the 50's decade ("The Rapist's Story"),through the turbulent 60's ("Peace Baby Is Hard To Sell"),the 70's ("Notes of a Dirty Old Man" series)into the 80's ("The Ladies Man of East Hollywood"),and finally the 90's ("Playing and Being the Poet"),these works are prime Bukowski. The majority of pieces are from the 70's,with three pieces from the 40's,and only one piece from the 90's.

This book is a good addition for long time readers of Bukowski,because it fills in areas not to well known to most readers. For someone just beginning to read Bukowski's work,this would be okay,but his short stories (there are a number of good collections,any of which would be a good introduction),or poems (any of the many volumes,for the themes are similar in many of his poems) would perhaps be a better starting point,and then progress into his novels ("Post Office" perhaps),for a good foundation to his work. But this book makes for interesting,if not sometimes amusing,and startling reading-which is what makes Charles Bukowski unique among authors-praise that he would no doubt laugh at.

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Jake Yurasek

The king of Hollywood

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2017

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Anything by Hank deserves 5 stars. I lived in LA back in the 80's in the middle of Hollywood, and it was then I was gifted my first book of his, "the most beautiful girl in town" which is a compilation of short stories. Here's the thing, this book in particular shows an aspect of "Hank", that unless you read his poetry, or other of his material that has been released posthumously, you will miss, and that is his intellectualism. His novels "Ham on Rye","Factotum", and particularly "Post Office" are hilarious. In fact, "Post Office" has the all time best opening line of any novel. However, these stories have an altogether different rythem

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Michael K. Hall

The Well Has Not Run Dry!

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2010

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It's been 16 years since the death of Charles Bukowski. I've lost count (and am too lazy to look it up) of just how many posthumous books this makes, but I bought this one with more skepticism than any other (why no Hardcover edition, for instance?). After all, the well has to run dry eventually... right? Well not yet, thankfully and this collection is superior in many ways.

Having read Bukowski books for 20+ years now, but never having the budget to collect all the $25 dollar magazines where some of this material can be found, I'm grateful that City Lights is finally making this material available. Some of the stories here are great and the Notes of a Dirty Old Man excerpts are classic as always. I have a new favorite story (I Just Write Poetry So I Can Go To Bed With Girls) from 1971 and unbelievably never collected until now. It's the classic Buk Scenario where he beds a girl after a poetry reading and spends the night. The kicker and the best part of the story involves her children (and you'll just have to buy the book and read it for yourself), It's a perfect summation of Bukowski's personality.

There's plenty more, including his first published short stories which are quite different than his later material. In some ways I'm grateful he did not achieve early success. It's clear he would have been a different writer, but it's impossible to say whether he would have been a better one. Perhaps early success would have spoiled him and the raw, biographical material that hs is known for would have never been written?

It's impossible to know, but what is possible is to proclaim that the well has not run dry and Bukowski fans should gobble this up and encourage City Lights to keep them coming. As to old fans versus new, I think I would recommend this as a good place to start. It's a wide variety of Bukowski's favorite targets and a general sense of the man really comes through. Of course long time fans will get it in other ways, but Bukowski is a "love him or hate him writer". You know it instantly whether your first Buk is "Women" or "Notes of a Dirty Old Man". He speaks to your soul or not. Absence of the Hero certainly spoke to mine.

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Jose Eustasio Rivera

great

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2019

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great. my hero.

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Kinags

My hero

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2013

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Because Buk is simply my favorite (one of the top 10) artist/writers ever! Nothing he could write would be bad in my opinion, although he did try a few times and accomplished bad writing. You won't get a very critical from e om him.

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herman

Not Buk's best, but very good

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2017

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Not enough Bukowski classic stories--too much about other authors. However, the stories were excellent.

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tca5013

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2017

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Bukowski. And that is all.

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Sally Whittaker

Should have six stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2017

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It is Bukowski. It is great writing by a great writer. Nothing more needs to be said.

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Charles Bukowski – Absence of the Hero | Review

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2019

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I never know how to categorise Bukowski’s prose because it’s technically semi–autobiographical and therefore counts as both fiction and non-fiction. I also always feel like it’s important to say that Bukowski’s work always makes me think about separating the art from the artist. He wasn’t the best of guys, but his work is interesting.

Absence of the Hero isn’t my favourite of Bukowski’s collections, but mainly because it doesn’t really feel cohesive. It’s like it doesn’t know what it’s trying to be, and while I enjoyed the majority of the essays and short stories in here, there was no real cohesion and I didn’t understand why they picked those particular stories over others.

Absence of the Hero isn’t my favourite of Bukowski’s collections, but mainly because it doesn’t really feel cohesive. It’s like it doesn’t know what it’s trying to be, and while I enjoyed the majority of the essays and short stories in here, there was no real cohesion and I didn’t understand why they picked those particular stories over others.

I also tend to prefer Bukowski’s poetry over his prose and so maybe that has something to do with it. Still, I’d recommend picking up something like Ham On Rye or Post Office if you’re new to him, and saving this until you’re a seasoned fan. And by that point, you’ll probably have read half of the stories that are in the collection anyway.

And yet despite all of that, I enjoyed it. Bukowski’s writing always gets me thinking, and I particularly like the way that he tackles complex topics with simple language. The work here is pretty typical of Bukowski’s work overall, but I don’t think it’s the best introduction. Go ahead and make of that what you will, but do be sure to check out some of Bukowski’s work if you haven’t already. He’s a genius.

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Barry Unlikely

DAVID CALONNE COLLECTION STRIKES GOLD FOR A SECOND TIME

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 18, 2010

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Like the very fine PORTIONS FROM A WINE STAINED NOTEBOOK before it, David Stephen Calonne has travelled widely along the backroads of the US independent publishing scene to compile another collection that does great justice to Buk's memory. Not at all the last scrapings at the bottom of the pan, both are very welcome additions to the already crowded bookshelves. Excellent examples of early writing combine with his much loved classic style, best exemplified by his columns from the NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN era. I had some reservations that these books might induce more sadness than pleasure, but they're like hanging out with an old friend. Four stars rather than five, only because it's flat out impossible to top the peaks of the work published by John Martin's Black Sparrow press. Whilst these two volumes might not contain masterpieces, they certainly do contain gems. Highly recommended.

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Philip Kienholz

Not to Cut it Up

Reviewed in Canada on December 23, 2014

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Bukowski's a master storyteller.

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Amazon Customer

Good Buk

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2014

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I'm a Chuck digger. I dug Chuck when I was reading his novels. Then I tried the short stories and they're great too. Then I tried his poetry. Damn! S'ALL good.

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