Hi! My boyfriend's birthday is coming up in November and is a big fan of Bukowski. he mentioned a while back about possibly trying to find a first edition copy of one of his books. I thought that this would be a pretty cool gift to give him, but to be honest, I do not know to much about Bukowski. I know everyone's tastes vary, but could you suggest which book may be the best? I know he said the poem "Bluebird" was one of his favorites, I'm not sure if that gives you any clue. I appreciate your help, thanks!!
Birthday Present Help (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Taylor
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mjp
Founding member
The Bluebird is in The Last Night of the Earth Poems. That would be a good first to get (because it's later, so not super-expensive), but there are a lot of different versions of the first edition; paperback, hard cover, signed hard cover, signed illustrated hard cover...
Kind of depends on how much do you want to $pend.
Kind of depends on how much do you want to $pend.
Gerard K H Love
Appreciate your friends
Get him football tickets. Welcome to the forum and beware of the dogs.
That will be a beautiful birthday present.
And the broadside has been printed by Black Sparrow Press,
which makes it extra special.
hey Taylor,
I'm a little late, but would have those questions to give you proper advice:
- When exactly is your boyfriend's birthday (what's our time-frame?)?
- How old is he and how much has he read of Bukowski so far?
- Is he only into poetry or prose too?
- How many and which books does he own by now?
- Has he even started to collect rare Bukowski-stuff or would this be his first?
- What's the amount of money you'd be willing/able to spend? (This is really one of the most important questions, if you expect proper advice on this subject. Don't worry - we won't tell him!)
I'm a little late, but would have those questions to give you proper advice:
- When exactly is your boyfriend's birthday (what's our time-frame?)?
- How old is he and how much has he read of Bukowski so far?
- Is he only into poetry or prose too?
- How many and which books does he own by now?
- Has he even started to collect rare Bukowski-stuff or would this be his first?
- What's the amount of money you'd be willing/able to spend? (This is really one of the most important questions, if you expect proper advice on this subject. Don't worry - we won't tell him!)
Hey Roni..you aren't too late.
-His birthday is at the beginning of November
-He is turning 27, and I've only been with him 6 months, but during that time he has definitely mentioned his liking for Bukowski, but I'm pretty sure he has no other Bulowki books, I think most of what he has read has been online. And this gift would be his first...he mentioned something about it being interesting to try and track down a first edition of some sort, so I thought that this could be a good gift idea. As far as price, I'm not exactly sure...I guess I wouldn't want to go over a couple hundred dollars?? I'm new to this, so I really have no idea what sort of money I should be willing to spend.
-His birthday is at the beginning of November
-He is turning 27, and I've only been with him 6 months, but during that time he has definitely mentioned his liking for Bukowski, but I'm pretty sure he has no other Bulowki books, I think most of what he has read has been online. And this gift would be his first...he mentioned something about it being interesting to try and track down a first edition of some sort, so I thought that this could be a good gift idea. As far as price, I'm not exactly sure...I guess I wouldn't want to go over a couple hundred dollars?? I'm new to this, so I really have no idea what sort of money I should be willing to spend.
nervas
more crickets than friends
Taylor, I'd have to agree with mjp's post. "The Last Night of The Earth Poems" has The Bluebird in it...Since you mention he has no Bukowski books, getting him a first edition of that book, which includes his favorite poem would be awesome. My personal opinion, if I were him, and you got me a buk book, I'd probably start going through it looking for the bluebird, if it was my favorite poem. So when he gets a hardcover 1st edition and it has his favorite poem in it....well that's just awesome all around!
The link above has a good copy for $100.00. Which is only half of your budget for him, so maybe that will work.
But I do wonder how big of a fan he is, since he doesn't have any books?
The link above has a good copy for $100.00. Which is only half of your budget for him, so maybe that will work.
But I do wonder how big of a fan he is, since he doesn't have any books?
It's true, given the fact that he likes 'The Bluebird', 'Last Night' would be a nice choice.
But the affordable firsts of this one usually aren't signed. If your friend is only after a first edition and cares not about the autograph, this doesn't matter. But I'd bet, he'd prefer a signed book. A signed first of 'Last Night' would cost, I guess, around 400.- plus USD. Right? (There are collectors on the forum who know the prices much better than I do - hope they jump in here!)
Having had a very quick and sloppy search through ebay, I've found affordable signed firsts of 'Post Office', 'Hollywood' and 'Pulp'. Haven't checked their condition though, so I don't recommend them here by giving links.
'Post Office' is a classic. While 'Pulp' is important being his last novel (and together with 'Screams from the Balcony' it's the last book he ever signed personally!). - btw: there's a signed first of 'Screams' on Abe for under 200.- and you can usually bargain with the sellers there.
I'm not the #1-source of information on that matter here on board, so I really hope the experts contribute.
Anyway, if you buy him a collectible - ALWAYS make sure to buy him an additional cheap trade-copy of the same book as well. He should Never need to actually use a collectible for reading purposes!
Since he doesn't have any Buk-books by now, maybe chronic's idea about the broadside combined with a nice pack of several books (trade-copies) would suit his needs best..?
But the affordable firsts of this one usually aren't signed. If your friend is only after a first edition and cares not about the autograph, this doesn't matter. But I'd bet, he'd prefer a signed book. A signed first of 'Last Night' would cost, I guess, around 400.- plus USD. Right? (There are collectors on the forum who know the prices much better than I do - hope they jump in here!)
Having had a very quick and sloppy search through ebay, I've found affordable signed firsts of 'Post Office', 'Hollywood' and 'Pulp'. Haven't checked their condition though, so I don't recommend them here by giving links.
'Post Office' is a classic. While 'Pulp' is important being his last novel (and together with 'Screams from the Balcony' it's the last book he ever signed personally!). - btw: there's a signed first of 'Screams' on Abe for under 200.- and you can usually bargain with the sellers there.
I'm not the #1-source of information on that matter here on board, so I really hope the experts contribute.
Anyway, if you buy him a collectible - ALWAYS make sure to buy him an additional cheap trade-copy of the same book as well. He should Never need to actually use a collectible for reading purposes!
Since he doesn't have any Buk-books by now, maybe chronic's idea about the broadside combined with a nice pack of several books (trade-copies) would suit his needs best..?
