Hello Everyone and Thank you (but also help a noob start) (1 Viewer)

[spacemonkey]

Wow, what a great site. I can see Bukowski punched a lot of you right in the soul. He was a good duker and a hell of a writer.

Thank you to the creators and maintainers of this cyber wonderland.

I look forward to learning more about this great man though all of you.

Please share with me where I need to start, and where I need to finish.
I have read Ham on Rye and youtubed the shit out of him, but that's all.

Oh, and P.S. I'm broke as a bum, and my library just had Ham on Rye. (yeah I live in a small MN town)

Thanks Again,

Cheers.

 

[bospress.net]

I'd start with the novels. Ham on Rye is a perfect start. If you want to read them in the order that they were LIVED (versus when they were written), then you have this order:

Ham on Rye
Factotum
Post Office
Women
Hollywood

Pulp is an odd novel, that is less autobiography and more experimental.


Then you can move on to the short stories and then the poetry. You will find that if you do not consider yourself a "poetry person" then you will likely change your mind once you are done with the poetry books.

A lot of Buk's writing is quasi-autobiographical, but keep in mind that he was a writer of fiction, and this can get confusing to people who think that if he write it, he did it. This has been a real problem as he writes about some really unpleasant people (including child molesters). The novels follow a autobiographical timeline with some exaggeration, but not outright fiction. It may have happened this way, but maybe not.

bill

 

[spacemonkey]

*update to my original post.

I was able to find one Bukowski book for sale($8 used) in my small town. So 'Post Office' will be my next novel. (loved Ham on Rye)

I know this is elementary school for most of you, but damn this man is good. As a former .gov employee, I'm anxious to see Buk's side of the machine.

An interesting aside, a used book dealer I met today said Bukowski sells very well and can't keep him in stock long.

Thanks for the start bospress. Hat tip to you.

I really enjoy this site, and all the knowledge here.

I'll be lurking around awhile.

Cheers

 

[skiroomalum]

Welcome. Look through the manuscripts section of this site.
Amazing trove of poems exactly as he intended them to be. Free of charge, no less.

 

[PhillyDave]

enjoy. take your time. He wrote a lot in his time. Be wary of any stuff published after his death as "edited" by John Martin. And Bukowski neither said nor wrote "That which does not kill you only makes you stronger."

 

[Skygazer]

[...Please share with me where I need to start, and where I need to finish.
I have read Ham on Rye and youtubed the shit out of him, but that's all.Cheers.

Hello spacemonkey, a nice one to read perhaps would be run with the hunted. It's a mixture of novel excerpts, essays and poems.Arranged by Bukowski's chronological age rather than the age of the work, which gives it a lovely memoir feel and nice progression, it will let you see if you want to get more of his poetry too.

 

[Danny Mac]

I'm happy to hear you have just "discovered" Buk. You are in for one hell of a ride. He has about 40 books that haven't been tarnished my his publisher John Martin. There is a list somewhere of the books that are the "BAD" titles. Good luck finding it though. This site is enormous. As far as where your journey ends...it doesn't, not with Bukowski. He will get in your Soul and then he will LIVE in your Soul.

My regards to you.

 

[zobraks]

There is a list somewhere of the books that are the "BAD" titles. Good luck finding it though. This site is enormous.

There's not such a list here, but there is a rule of thumb: Betting on the Muse (1996) and previous books of poetry are OK, Bone Palace Ballet (1997) and later poetry collections are no-no*. Mainly.
Stick to this rule if you're not curious what (more than) half of Bukowski's collected poetry is** about. I was curious and I read all the stuff available.

* This goes only for the books edited by JM.
** Or, rather, was intended to be about.

 

[mjp]

There is a list somewhere of the books that are the "BAD" titles.

Here.