Bukowski and drug use (1 Viewer)

A few short stories where he mentions taking pills. And I can think of two where he discusses coke. Seems like a man like Bukowski wouldn't go for the coke. No reason to say that, but I think with his fondness for the alky, the coke wouldn't get him where he liked to be. And probably would prefer pills that would mellow you out. And who is the rockstar of 1970, living off royalties that visited Buk and turned him on to coke?
 
imo most hardcore alch-ies get into speed, coke, or crack (the smokeable version of coke), or some form of speedy drug, so that they continue drinking for days even weeks...
 
I eat coke for breakfast.

I knew a guy who loved coke. He was 39 years old with 4 kids when we buried him. We cried for his children. The insurance company coughed up the $600,000. on a one year old policy. His wife and her new boyfriend went through the money quickly.
Yep, enjoy that breakfast while you can. They say the damage done to your heart can only be detected during an autopsy.

If Bukowski was into coke he would not have written most of his best work.
 
Many comments in interviews, essays, stories about his preference for beer/wine and sometimes scotch/vodka and 7 over drugs. He dabbled in pills once in a while and grass but the overall verdict seems to have been that alcohol is the "blood of the gods." He also connected drinking with writing, but again only beer and wine, and said whiskey was good for a while but then flattened you out. Drinking, writing, and listening to classical music are obviously all solitary activities for him--and enhance each other when done together.
He switched to good German white wine later in life, buying cases of Bernkastel.
For a good book on writers and drugs, check out Marcus Boon, The Road of Excess: A History of Writers on Drugs.
 
I knew a guy who loved coke. He was 39 years old with 4 kids when we buried him. We cried for his children. The insurance company coughed up the $600,000. on a one year old policy. His wife and her new boyfriend went through the money quickly.
Yep, enjoy that breakfast while you can. They say the damage done to your heart can only be detected during an autopsy.
Sympathies about your friend (was he a friend?) Ger...


Gerard K H Love said:
If Bukowski was into coke he would not have written most of his best work.

Meh, well... see, I have kind of an off-the-wall belief here. I kind of agree with you, in the sense that, I believe that if we (could) go back in the past and change just one (even if it be very small) thing, it changes, or can change every single thing in the present.
(I study religions, don't take me all that seriously, I'm an atheist at heart.)
Though... on the contrary, we don't know if he ever was for sure, and if it ever came out that he was, then his alleged "best work" would still be there and it still would've been written. The past can't change and the present can't change the past. That sort of thang.


I'm sure I could divulge more into this theory, but my mind moves too fast for my fingers. It's awful, get awful headaches, insomnia, anxiety. Humbug.


Also: Re: Everyone

See: Prozac Nation; Elizabeth Wurtzel

Not saying much for her writing ability in my opinion, but the whole drug/past/present/work ethic/writing belief/whatever thing is conveyed sort of in the movie/book.

Dr. Sterling: Have you had any drugs in the last 24 hours?
Elizabeth: No. Well... I guess I snorted some coke and smoked some pot but uh, you know, that was just to make the ecstasy last longer.
Dr. Sterling: Sure you're not forgetting anything?
Elizabeth: Maybe a few beers?
Dr. Sterling: Did you ever think you might have a substance abuse problem?
Elizabeth: The only substance problem I have right now is that I need you to get me some trank so I can come down off this fucking coke.



And, RE: PILLS

I could see Buk having took pills. As a recovering alky/narc addict myself, booze and narcotics had a very similiar, numbing affect on me. I only ever took downers though, I hate(d) uppers. There should be another thread where we break down the psychology of it. That'd be fun.
 
There are a couple of poems where Buk writes about being at someone's place and taking a few pills with them. But they are few and far between. Probably early, mid-70s.
 
I knew a guy who loved coke. He was 39 years old with 4 kids when we buried him. ..................................................................................................snip.....
If Bukowski was into coke he would not have written most of his best work.
Lolita:My point was he would have died many years earlier. Does anyone know an old cocaine head?

I didn't think so. Although the guy I mentioned was a friend he was not a nice guy unless he wanted something, like many people.
We went to Santa Anita once, I lost $20..
 
Well... an old coke head that's still heavily active? No. Old recovering addicts? Yes... recovering addicts that still smoke weed, yes. Though, even though this isn't the question, we all know that alcoholics can live into very old age, some how.

Opening day at Saratoga this past summer, a recovering coke head (ex friend of mine) gave me 20 to put on the 3 to win... the 3 placed.
 
We're rehearsing for a 1950s instructional film to be shown in High Schools nationwide. Apparently. Gents: grab your pipes and tweed jackets. Ladies: souffles and ironing boards at the ready!
 
If Bukowski was into coke he would not have written most of his best work.

I agree, coke makes you overthink/overtalk/overwrite. All ability to be concise flies out the window; look at Stephen King, his novels tripled in size when he started doing coke.

P.S.To any S.K.fans, I'm not picking on King, I have enjoyed alot of his work, especially when I was younger.
My Grandmother adored him, and for that reason he holds a place in my reading heart. CRB:)
 
Ah, it's a futile but enticing thought, but if Bukowski didn't drink as much or didn't get Lukemia, he would be alive today. He realistically could still be alive today but he is not. But that he could be is a small consolation for a man who dedicated himself to recording life as he saw it, as others brought it to him, and as it revealed itself.

I wonder O I wonder what thunder he might have written
had he stayed to weather the storm a decade longer.
 
Cocaine and speed offer the slower suicide compared to heroin, at least that's what an ex junkie told me. Some people with low self confidence, problems in relating to their emotions, sometimes abused people who were raped as an infant use coke and speed to play the big winner, according to my experiences. But they're overdriven and often can't remember how they told you stories about the loss of their mother, how much they like you...for hours. Or what kind of egocentric asshole they were acting like. I don't think Bukowski appreciated cocaine and speed on a high level for himself, many have taken a dose once or twice because they were curious, but alcohol was his main demon.
In my opinion, for everything boiling inside of him, he used his writing as a catharsis. Such cleansing can't be achieved by snorting.
 
There are a few amusing anecdotes about Buk and drug in Howard Sounes' biography but somebody in another thread informed me that this was not a very reliable source.
 
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it is not that Sounes is not reliable ever, but that he is sometimes wrong and then instead of learning from it, he lashes out at anyone that disagrees with his assumption. There are a couple instances of this on this forum where very knowledgeable people discovered important information, only to be told that they must be wrong. These are not people that make quick judgments and their research was very, very thorough.

Bill
 
I'm no expert on this, but from my recollection there are scattered comments about taking pills occassionally with John Thomas, there is a recurrent preference for alcohol over all other "drugs," there are scattered references to marijuana use, and the story "Distractions of the Literary Life" is about cocaine. What about mescaline and LSD? I'm guessing Buk tried a little of all of it, but probably not heroin or anything you put in your veins...
 
As far as I know Bukowski took lsd once and I believe he describes his mescaline experience in the novel; Women. It's in the chapter when he is visiting "Joanna Dover", the tall lady.
 
Bukowski on drugs, at 5:00:

"They just end up, 'Heeeeey, Heeeeeeeeaaay.' I don't like that. I like drunkards man, they come out of it, and they're sick, they come out of it, they spring back and forth. But even the light drug freaks, they're like 'Okaaeeeey. Okaaeeeeeey'. It's like all mind circulation, all spirit has been cut off."
 
Of course Buk preferred drunkards. It would've been strange if he had said he preferred pot smokers, being an alcoholic himself. As for who are the most foolish to listen to, drunkards or pot smokers, I think it's a tie...:D
 
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Did anyone else notice how (in part 5 video) as he was driving down the street Bukowski says, "Hey man, what's happening?" when he sees black guys? When I worked in a factory most of the guys I worked with use to do the same thing. We always did it if we were driving down the street with a black friend in the car. It may be racist but we were smoking pot and showing that we knew how to communicate with the people, man.

That made me laugh.
 
i recall a poem or short story where he had some girl shooting him up in the ass. he describes her shooting up and the spot she shoots then asks her to "shoot him in the ass" if my recollection serves correct
 
Bukowski's mentioned doing speed, coke, mescaline, taking pills, and smoking pot (on many occasions) in his writings. There's a letter in volume 4 letter book right before he died where he mentions finally being over the drinking, and happy about it.
 
Bukowski on drugs, at 5:00:

"They just end up, 'Heeeeey, Heeeeeeeeaaay.' I don't like that. I like drunkards man, they come out of it, and they're sick, they come out of it, they spring back and forth. But even the light drug freaks, they're like 'Okaaeeeey. Okaaeeeeeey'. It's like all mind circulation, all spirit has been cut off."

Dear Pessimist, thanks so much for posting this. I've not seen much of these tapes and this was brand new to me.
I LOVE Bukowski!
He was just so damn personable when you get right down to it- he hated and loved people at the same time- combined with his excellent humor and drunkard's heart- well, in my book-he will always be the tops!
 

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