Buk's Typical Day (Dear Mr. Bukowski) (1 Viewer)

[nymark]

I put this in Buy/Sell/Trade because it's a commentary on collecting. It was a blurb in the New York Times Book Review yesterday adjacent to the best seller lists. Please forgive me, Mr. Moderator, if this is a repeat post. I know how upsetting that is for you.

"BUK'S TYPICAL DAY: In this issue, Jim Harrison reviews a collection of Charles Bukowski's poems. Bukowski's work is sought after by collectors like that of almost no other 20th-century poet. On abebooks.com, rare editions of his books sell for as much as $14,000. The Bukowski rarity I covet "” the one that gives the best sense of man "” is a limited-edition volume called "Dear Mr. Bukowski." It's his response to a fan letter from a woman who asks him to have dinner with her and her 4-year-old daughter. The letter also asks what his typical day is like. Bukowski's response reads, in part: "I vomit, first thing, early. Then I read all the poems I wrote when I was drunk the night before and then I vomit again. ... Then I go back to bed and sleep two more hours. Then, strangely, I find myself at the racetrack again, losing with my new system. I go home and drink 18 bottles of beer. ... Then I go over to my girlfriend's place. I call her a whore. We fight. ... I don't know when I write the poems." All this can be yours for only $5,000."

 

[Father Luke]

I found it for you at a thousand dollars cheaper H E R E

It says that it would make a dandy wall decoration.

 

[hank solo]

Please forgive me, Mr. Moderator, if this is a repeat post. I know how upsetting that is for you.

:eek: Well okay, but just this once.

More discussion about this piece here...
Dear Mr. Bukowski

and here...
Red

and some good scans of most of the prints thanks to Ross Runfola

 

[mjp]

I don't know, man. I understand the market forces that create prices like that for what is essentially casually tossed off junk, but that is one of the things that always bugged me about Black Sparrow (I don't know that they made the cards, but that doesn't really matter) - those manufactured "rarities."

To me, it's a cynical move. "If I only make 50 of these I know I can sell them to the people on this special mailing list for 10 times what they are worth..." When you stack up all that "special" stuff it outnumbers the normal, legit releases, and that's just weird.

Of course I - and pretty much everyone else - have used elements of that strategy. So I guess I'm a hypocrite (just throwing that in before doglice does ;)).

 

[nymark]

To me, it's a cynical move. "If I only make 50 of these I know I can sell them to the people on this special mailing list for 10 times what they are worth..." When you stack up all that "special" stuff it outnumbers the normal, legit releases, and that's just weird.

But Black Sparrow never sold these items at these grossly inflated prices. They only became "10 times what they are worth" after being sold for fairly reasonable retail prices by Black Sparrow. I'm not sure they were being as cynical as you might think. Remember, a lot of those books with paintings were originally sold for only fifty bucks. That doesn't seem so crass in retrospect.

 

[mjp]

But wasn't $50 ten times the normal cover price at the time? ;)

In retrospect, sure, they were a good buy. Like Ed Blair paying Webb $1500 - or whatever it was (I just saw the new Outsider documentary, and I've already forgotten the number) - in advance for 100 copies of It Catches. He only received 30 copies for his money, but that's another story.

Stuff like unsigned "special" hardcovers with the mass produced art reproductions were just attempts to take in extra dough for something that isn't really special at all. Unless the different colored backstrip has some kind of magic power. It seems like later on the special editions were less impressive. And at that point the press was profitable, so I never understood it.

I don't know. He put out the books, that's the important thing. I'm glad they made the editions with original art, and the signed editions. Never mind me, I'm just a crank.

 

[ROC]

But Black Sparrow never sold these items at these grossly inflated prices. They only became "10 times what they are worth" after being sold for fairly reasonable retail prices by Black Sparrow. I'm not sure they were being as cynical as you might think. Remember, a lot of those books with paintings were originally sold for only fifty bucks. That doesn't seem so crass in retrospect.

Exactly.
It's as if Martin was 'gifting' the eventual massive profits to the booksellers and savvy collectors. BSP never charged thousands for any book - tens or hundreds, yes - then they went up from there.
So what would be the highest publication price for a BSP book?
Heat wave at $650?
The Captain...graphic arts edition?
Krumhansl will have the answer but that book is downstairs and, well... you know...

Stuff like unsigned "special" hardcovers with the mass produced art reproductions were just attempts to take in extra dough for something that isn't really special at all. Unless the different colored backstrip has some kind of magic power. It seems like later on the special editions were less impressive. And at that point the press was profitable, so I never understood it.

Well Bukowski was dead and there was money to be made - the collectors (we) are out there so there was a certain demand.
And yes... in case you were not aware; the multi coloured cloth back strips are what give me my extraordinary prowess in the boudoir.


uh huh.

 

[bospress.net]

Exactly.
It's as if Martin was 'gifting' the eventual massive profits to the booksellers and savvy collectors. BSP never charged thousands for any book - tens or hundreds, yes - then they went up from there.
So what would be the highest publication price for a BSP book?
Heat wave at $650?
The Captain...graphic arts edition?
Krumhansl will have the answer but that book is downstairs and, well... you know...

The final photobook "Bukowski" which was the last BSP book reportedly cost $330 a piece to produce and all 110 copies were given away, so it is not always about making money...

Bill

the multi coloured cloth back strips are what give me my extraordinary prowess in the boudoir.


uh huh.

That is the source of my Mojo. Now you know...

 

[ROC]

The final photobook "Bukowski" which was the last BSP book reportedly cost $330 a piece to produce and all 110 copies were given away, so it is not always about making money...

Oh yeah, exactly. Now I don't know Martin from a stick of celery, but that seemed like a magnanimous gesture on his part. A gift in recognition of all the booksellers support. Same with all the New Years Greetings - all given away gratis with the absolute certainty (I'm sure) that they would enter the collectable book market at hundreds of dollars a piece.

Good on him.

 

[bospress.net]

John Martin was a publisher, Celery is a vegetable.

See, it is easy ;)

Best,
Bill

p.s. And they call us nitwits! ha!

 

[nymark]

Stuff like unsigned "special" hardcovers with the mass produced art reproductions were just attempts to take in extra dough for something that isn't really special at all. Unless the different colored backstrip has some kind of magic power. It seems like later on the special editions were less impressive. And at that point the press was profitable, so I never understood it.

Ya know what? That's a good point. The later editions were kinda lazy, weren't they? Still...I don't detect any cynicism on Black Sparrow's part. I think Bukowski was sick and tired of producing hundreds of original pieces of art, and they had to keep feeding the beast, didn't they? As you know, mjp, I am always willing to give Martin the benefit of the doubt -- except for those lame-o You Kissed Lily "illustrated" editions. Well, nobody's perfect.

 

[ROC]

They should have produced a You Kissed Lilly scratch 'n sniff edition.

 

[jordan]

at least bukowski special editions had art (even if it is mass-produced screen prints). i bought a special edition of a black sparrow short story collection (by douglas woolf) that is the numbered "deluxe" edition. all that means, apparently, is that the backstrip is green instead of red, and it is numbered. there were only 200 hardcover trade editions to begin with, so i don't know what is so deluxe about the hundred numbered ones. still, it was under $10, so i said what the hey.

 

[Rekrab]

Last time I was at Powells Books in Portland I wandered into the rare book room and there, in a glass case, was a copy of DEAR MR. BUKOWSKI, in its printed envelop. Price was $800 or $900. I was about to ask the clerk if he could take it out of the case so I could get a better look but then my cell phone rang and I had to leave to meet my daughter, so I didn't get a look inside. Don't know what printing it is -- probably not the first, I'm guessing.

 

[bospress.net]

Could it be the German Edition? At that price, if would be very overpriced, but if it was the Black Sparrow Edition, it would be VERY underpriced...

curious.

Bill

 

[Rekrab]

Good guess. I checked the Powells website and it's the German reprint I saw, with a price of $450, not the $800 or $900 I thought it was. Either they dropped the price, or my mind is shot. Here's the link:

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-9781131844435-0#