Boring 'recommend me where to go next' thread (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone,

I've really got into Bukowski as of late. Only him and Vonnegut have really made me feel what the best writers can. But then I am fairly young and haven't read much, so hopefully I'll find more amazing authors soon.

Having read all his 'Chinaski' novels, I've got Pulp sitting waiting to be read.

I'm also making my way through his 'South of No North' short story collection.

Re: poems I've read New Poems books 2, 3 and 4 (they didn't have 1 at the library). I've got Last Night of the Earth Poems to read though.

So I suppose I'd like some guidance as to where to go next. The stories in South of No North seem to be of variable quality and I know he admitted he'd lost the ability to write good ones when he got older. So, short story collections, recommendations? Also do I have to be careful which collections I read, are some stories repeated in other collections?

Re: Poetry, loved New Poems 2 3 and 4, amazing. What other collections should I seek out? And what's 'Last Night of the Earth Poems' like? Again, a bit worried about reading the same poems in different collections.

'Notes of a Dirty Old Man' has also taken my interest, is that worth checking out?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ben
 
Re: Poetry, loved New Poems 2 3 and 4, amazing.
You should read the poetry collections published during his lifetime, not what was published after he died. If you're unclear as to what came when, click on that timeline link up on top of the page.
 
So I suppose I'd like some guidance as to where to go next. The stories in South of No North seem to be of variable quality and I know he admitted he'd lost the ability to write good ones when he got older. So, short story collections, recommendations? Also do I have to be careful which collections I read, are some stories repeated in other collections?

South Of No North was his first short story collection. If you found it of variable quality, you'll probably find the other story collections of variable quality too, and of course, some stories are better than others. The other story collections are, 'The Most Beautiful Woman In Town', 'Tales Of Ordinary Madness', and, 'Hot Water Music'. You can find a blend of stories and essays in, 'Portions Of A Wine-Stained Notebook', and, 'Absence Of The Hero'. And you can find a blend of stories and poetry in, 'Septuagenarian Stew', and, 'Betting On The Muse'. No, none of the stories are repeated in other collections.

And what's 'Last Night of the Earth Poems' like? Again, a bit worried about reading the same poems in different collections.

It's one of his great late poetry collections. I'm sure most people here will recommend you read it, I certainly will!
In general his poems wasn't repeated in other poetry collections, but it happened in some cases in the posthumous poetry collections such as in the one called, 'The Continual Condition, where at least 14 poems out of 63 had been collected before, but that's an extreme example.

'Notes of a Dirty Old Man' has also taken my interest, is that worth checking out?

Yes, it is. It's a collection of the columns he wrote for the 'underground' mag, Open City, in the 60's. Some of the columns are funnier than others, of course, same as with the short stories, but they're worth checking out.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Virgin Selected Letters books are in four volumes:

1958-1965
1965-1970
1971-1986
1987-1994

The are taken from Screams from the Balcony, Living on Luck and Reach for the Sun, but I'm not sure if they collect those volumes entirely.
 
Does anyone have info or indexes for those Virgin poetry collections? It's all posthumous stuff, yeah?
 
It's all posthumous stuff, yeah?
Yeah. According to the publishing info pages, Vol 1+2 are from Sifting..., Vol 3 is from The Flash of Lightning..., and Vol 4 is from Slouching... I'm not sure if all the poems from the ecco versions are in the Virgin volumes, but if you want, I could look into it.
 
Aye.

My wife and I used to go to Davis Square in Somerville, MA for Saturday breakfast with bloody marys at the Rosebud and after we'd wade among the throng and make our way over to McIntyre & Moore's used bookstore. I picked up most of these for $5-7 each - they're great for the crapper. Insanity without spine wear; gotta get me some of that.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top