On Cats (1 Viewer)

112 pages
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These themes, this packaging, it all seems to be quite successfully carrying on Martin's prime directive of neutering Bukowski and positioning him as a harmless old man.

What's the next installment? On Clouds? On Sweaters?

Maybe I'm missing something.

cirerita said:
100% faithful to Bukowski's manuscripts
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I appreciate that, anyway.
 
I get your point, but this is Ecco/HC we're talking about here, not BSP. Having said that, there's no neutering at all on my end. I was asked to put these collections together, and I happily complied. In all fairness, I was given carte blanche to use whatever I wanted to use, and that's what I did.

Hopefully, somewhere down the road a new collection of non-thematic poems will be published.
 
Yes, I'm talking about the publisher, HarperCollins/Ecco, not you. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I don't want to belabor the point, and this will be my last comment on this particular book, but if someone hands the surgeon the scalpel - even if it's a clean and genuine scalpel - they're part of the neutering. That person might say, "Well, if I don't do it, someone else will, so what's the difference?" But that's only justification.

Or maybe that person doesn't see how a Bukowski book on cats is neutering, in which case, by all means, whistle while you work. Fuck art, who cares? Let's watch Netflix and eat tacos! It doesn't matter. It's just a book. No one cares. It's what people want. Nothing I can do about it anyway. It doesn't matter and no one cares.

Well, who knows. Maybe Bukowski would have thought these themed books were a marvelous idea, and that putting his name on a book of cat poems was just wonderful. I guess we'll never know. Mainly because no one would have been stupid enough to suggest it to him when he was alive.

"You ask him."
"I'm not gonna ask him! You ask him."
"I'm not asking him. Look at him, he's drunk! He'll hit me!"
"Well I'm not asking him."
"Who's idea was this, anyway?"
"Not mine."
"Mine either. Let's get out of here."
 
My last comment on the subject, too: I put these collections together for several reasons, one of them being I still love Bukowski's work. I also thought that it could be one of the first steps towards restoring Bukowski's work to its full, raw, untampered-with glory.

What you call neutering, I call opening up new doors. Sometimes you need to open a few doors to get where you'd like to get. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the ride. Hey, there might even be a few good poems and prose excerpts in the new collections, who knows?
 
With 408 poems that would probably have to be a two volume collection. Something like that could only come from Prague or Iceland. Or maybe Gabon, Madagascar, San Christobal - someplace like that. Not from New York City or Santa Barbara.
 
What, I can't watch Netflix now? Could someone notify me of these fucking decisions, because I can't even relate with Shomi.
 
I would like to see a nice book, paperback ok but on nice paper, with a selection of uncollected, unmutilated poetry from Wormwood and maybe other zines. With some pages in facsimile of drawings on manuscripts...
 
A book of poems or prose by Bukowski that is restricted to one theme, no matter what theme it is, doesn't sound like a must-have to me. It's great, of course, that the upcoming collections are based on manuscripts only, but I don't like the approach - cutting his works into small, random portions and trying to sell it bit by bit.

What I like about Bukowski (poems) is the change of subjects, not the repetitions. I can recall the boredom while reading the 19 Scarlet poems from Love is a Dog from Hell at one stretch. Great formulations and pictures, for sure, but everything's revolving around the very same woman.

Anyway, Cirerita, this is no offense, just some nighttime thoughts. You've certainly done a great job.
 
zobraks said:
Yeah, and it's cheap & easy to get all those WRs.
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Well, no it isn't, and that's part of the chase, which I undertook for some five years until Marvin's daughter showed up here with collated but unreleased and unstapled copies of originals from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Of course, part of me takes the stance that I busted my butt and spent a fair bit of money amassing a full run of Wormwood just to get these (and other) poems, so why should everyone else get them in a single $25 volume? The answer is, that's a douche position, and I've been trying to avoid being a douche lately (with limited success, I might add).

Andreas said:
What I like about Bukowski (poems) is the change of subjects, not the repetitions. I can recall the boredom while reading the 19 Scarlet poems from Love is a Dog from Hell at one stretch. Great formulations and pictures, for sure, but everything's revolving around the very same woman.
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I actually own Scarlet, and I like the Scarlet poems and I really like the Horsemeat poems because I used to go to the dog track and Jai-Alai when I lived in Connecticut. But I don't like cats (and I'm violently allergic to them), so I'm not really up for this one from a predisposed position. But, dollars to doughnuts, I will like it, because, as I posted long ago, Buk could write an entire book of poems about how melted cheese wrecks your kitchen sponge and I'd probably like it. And yes, I believe that cirerita is doing a good thing by getting these out in original form even if it isn't our preferred mix.
 
Purple Stickpin said:
I busted my butt and spent a fair bit of money amassing a full run of Wormwood just to get these (and other) poems, so why should everyone else get them in a single $25 volume?
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Hehe, I fully understand what you feel but look on the bright side: you won't have to browse (and eventually ruin) those expensive little volumes in order to read some poem, there'll be a cheap, easy to handle, book with everything you may need (from WRs).

I doubt very much a single volume of collected Bukowski poems from Wormwood Review will ever be published, though.
 
Well, no it isn't, and that's part of the chase, which I undertook for some five years until Marvin's daughter showed up here with collated but unreleased and unstapled copies of originals from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Of course, part of me takes the stance that I busted my butt and spent a fair bit of money amassing a full run of Wormwood just to get these (and other) poems, so why should everyone else get them in a single $25 volume? The answer is, that's a douche position, and I've been trying to avoid being a douche lately (with limited success, I might add).
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If it's any comfort, the original copies would probably keep their value if such a volume was published. Having a book of reprints can't compete with having the originals, especially not for collectors.
 
I can say or myself (and presume to speak for PS), when I say that the set is worth more than money. If it had no monetary value, it would still be the prize of my collection and one of the few things that I will never part with...
 
I think what made Malone so special was his lack of personal literary aspiration. He wasn't threatened by great writing and he embraced fully Buk's genius. Also his drive for integrity and not profit didn't hurt either. I pick up Wormie far more often than BSP. I think a Wormwood collection would be a celebration of Marvin Malone's legacy as much as Hank's. I do realize this is still a cat thread, that being said.
 
Purple Stickpin said:
...Buk could write an entire book of poems about how melted cheese wrecks your kitchen sponge and I'd probably like it.
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Being just a simple reader with a serious lack of understanding English (among many other things), I cannot share that kind of unlimited excitement about everything Bukowski ever wrote. But I understand the joy of having such an item like Scarlet or Horsemeat. I would love it too.

cirerita said:
Despite being thematic collections, you won't find much repetition/overlapping in them. They're chronologically arranged, and you can see how Bukowski's voice changes over the years. And his take on these subjects changes, too.
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Thanks for clarifying the content and structure of the book, Cirerita. How many poems does Cats contain?
 
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I'm confused...

1) Did Cannongate buy all the rights to Bukowski, or just for these themed collections. Or is this just for the books sold in the UK?
2) Previously unpublished material? I thought that it was all previously published.
3) "On Writing" will be the next one. Waiting for "On Beer Shits". Anyone know how many themed books there will be? Is Abel editing them all?

Bill
 
bospress.net said:
Anyone know how many themed books there will be?
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Too many.

I didn't hear anything about Ecco selling off the rights, I suspect Cannongate is a regional thing. But who knows. Eventually Bukowski's rights will probably end up with an investment firm and just be traded back and forth like pork futures.
 
Will the writing b good? Yes because JM din't "edit" them. Will they be "must have" books? maybe. Will Mr Debritto do a good job? I'm sure. Will i buy them or get them as gifts regardless? Sure, it's Bukowski.
 
Both volumes will have previously unpublished drawings and photographs. In On Cats, there's the only drawing of a cat Bukowski ever did; later on, he tried to paint a cat again only it came out as a dog --that painting is still hanging on a bathroom wall in San Pedro. You'll get to see it in On Cats, although in black and white.
 
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