Rekrab
Usually wrong.
I hate to even ask this, but I can't help it. In the audio commentary for BORN INTO THIS, the director says (I'm paraphrasing) "If you want to read a biography, I'd recommend Neeli Cherkovsky's HANK...it's the best...if you only read one biography, that's the one you should read...I emphatically recommend that you not read any of the memoirs by so-called poet friends...some of these poets are bitter because Bukowski made it big and they didn't, and the books are riddled with inaccuracies...and I know John Martin and Linda Bukowski agree with me on this..." I did a great big "Whoa!" when I ran across this. I stopped the tape, it hit me so hard. I actually got a sick feeling in my gut. For one paranoid second, I thought maybe I was included in that list of so-called poet friends for my little memoir CHARLES BUKOWSKI SPIT IN MY FACE, but soon realized he probably didn't have me specifically in mind (although I might be lumped in among writers to avoid). My chapbook is pretty low profile on the market, and I never claimed to have been a friend of Bukowski's, and I'm not bitter about his success, so I got over that. Still, it feels like a heavy-handed statement, one that was premeditated and planted in the commentary. I'm speculating here, but it feels like something the director promised Martin and/or Linda he would mention. Part of my sick feeling was that it reveals the pervasive cultural power structure at work: putting someone in their place, telling the masses what to think, and I find that a bit disgusting. I'd like to think Bukowski fans can think for themselves, and don't need to be told what to read, what to believe. Anyway, my reason for bringing it up here is simply to ask if anyone has any inside information or guesses on who would be on that list of poet-friends whose memoirs are to be avoided? I don't think it's Steve Richmond and his SPINNING OFF BUKOWSKI because he's in the film and the director says he likes him. I hope it's not A. D. Winans for his THE HOLD GRAIL: BUKOWSKI AND THE SECOND COMING REVOLUTION. I'm 38 pages into that book and enjoying it. It seems honest and fair, and is rich in interesting details about his experiences with Buk. I've heard some criticism of the book, claims that he is bitter, which lead me to believe he may be one of the writer's being advised against in the film. I don't sense any bitterness in Winan's narrative so far. Any ideas on what books are being targeted in the commentary? Am I sticking my foot in my mouth even asking a question like this?
By the way, I still highly recommend BORN INTO THIS. It's a well-made film.
By the way, I still highly recommend BORN INTO THIS. It's a well-made film.