I draw the nuts each time, they like me. (1 Viewer)

whats up, I'm new. Just discovered BUK... Also recently learned that my new favorite author passed away, over 20 years ago. Starting the 5th... novel I've read of his 6 available offerings, my first was Women. This is how I rank them so far (may change upon second reading):

1. Women
2. Ham on Rye
3. Post Office
4. Factotum

Currently reading Pulp, saving Hollywood for last for no particular reason. I'm sad that I've gone through the first four in a few short months (most recently I read Factotum in one day and Post Office in one week, I seem to be reading them even faster now). After discovering Bukowski I have realized that I only like his writing. He is the best. I'm hooked. No one else comes close. Everyone else sounds pretentious and full of drivel, filler.

I relate to Hank so well. I think that's partly why I like the books so much. Also the writing is so easy to get through, so entertaining and even when little is happening in the plot, so much meaning is there. I like how he breaks the novels up into short chapters, best utilized in Women, in my opinion.

I've recently started Love is a Dog from Hell but I'm not getting the same out of it as the novels, I may try some of the other poetry books (basically because I'm quickly running out of novels and I'm willing to read anything by Bukowski over anything by any other author at the moment), I hope that I'll come around on the poetry but it just isn't doing the trick for me right now :-/

Purchases I'm considering next (no particular order):
Notes of a Dirty Old Man
Hot Water Music
Most Beautiful Woman in Town
You get so alone sometimes it just makes Sense
 
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Welcome. Love the enthusiasm.

The short stories got me hooked and the poems sealed my fate.

You have a lot of great reading ahead of you -- take your time and enjoy the ride.
 
What are your thoughts on what people say about his works that were published/collected after his passing are not as good (I've seen this theme in various forums)?

If you are asking, you already know. No need for this thread to go in that direction.
 
If you are asking, you already know. No need for this thread to go in that direction.

Well I don't already know myself, I've just heard and was curious because the titles on the recommended list were all published recently... But I'll go ahead and check out those books and didn't mean to take the thread in that direction.
I'm like 20 chapters into Pulp and I have no idea what's going on! It's totally different.
 
Brace yourself for some fun and...well, let's just say that if you continue to read Buk and follow some people's direction around here all will be well and you will have years of reading & re-reading ahead.
 
people say [...] his works that were published/collected after his passing are not as good (I've seen this theme in various forums)
Where are the "various forums" where you've read that?

You might start here and take it further here. If you're not in the mood to read, you can listen.

tl;dr version: After Bukowski died, John Martin made changes to the poetry he published in the collections. Changes that in many (most (all)) cases, filled the poetry with clumsy, amateurish writing, and removed references to drinking, drugs and madness. Martin did that kind of thing while Bukowski was alive, but on a much smaller scale. Mainly because when Bukowski caught it, he complained, so Martin had to be more cautious (and in the case of Women, had to re-issue a revised edition that removed his changes). But when Bukowski died, Martin was no longer restrained by the intentions of the author, so he felt free to change virtually every poem to suit his own "vision," rather than Bukowski's.

The posthumous book that were not edited by Martin do not have that problem, and that includes the City Lights titles, and the recent Ecco titles edited by Abel Debritto. That article that's in the first link above gives a list of titles you might want to avoid if you want to stay away from the work that's been damaged.
 
Where are the "various forums" where you've read that?
Maybe not forums per say, might have been Amazon reviews actually now as I think back. Thank you MJP for the info and links (I will read after work), you are a Bukowski Genius!!!!

I'm so glad I've found this forum. In the world around me no one seems to know Buk, now I know I'm not alone...
 
YES YES YES. I stopped reading Pulp (maybe I'll finish another time, maybe not...) and I went to the nearest bookstore by my office in SF... They have a ton of City Lights titles! I just started The Most Beautiful Woman... YES! More great BUK prose for me! I am complete again. I Love you all.
 
Hollywood is my least favorite,

I agree with this. But the very long short story that he wrote (which is a good chunk of the novel) is great. And I think it was written long before the movie was even shot. Did that appear in Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook?
 
Testify! Factotum gets nowhere near the love it should. It's probably his most laugh out loud (see, it's legal to actually spell this out) funny novel.
I ranked it 4th in my initial post and I don't think that was fair. It's pretty hard to have a true rank, they're not really comparable. The reason I put it there is simply because the book seems very short, the plot is somewhat limited, to BUK bouncing around jobs, the book seems to pass extremely fast, I read in one day, great prose nonetheless.
 
I agree with this. But the very long short story that he wrote (which is a good chunk of the novel) is great. And I think it was written long before the movie was even shot. Did that appear in Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook?
No, in More Notes of a Dirty Old Man
 

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