Pig in a Pamphlet vs Then I Gave Up and Started to Drink Heavily (1 Viewer)

[cirerita]

I need your help here.

Krumahnsl describes Pig in a Pamphlet this way:

PIG IN A PAMPHLET [1985]

First edition:

[Transcription from front cover:] [on red paper:] CHARLES | BUKOWSKI | "then | I gave up and started drinking | heavily." | [facsimile holograph] Bukowski | [printed] C. Bukowski | [Jack Daniels Whiskey Bottle] | [Little Man drawing] | PIG IN A PAMPHLET 12 [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]

1 blank leaf, 10 pp., text continues on recto of rear cover. 5 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (14.1 x 10.8 cm.) 50 cents. Stapled in red paper wrappers. Printed in black across front cover. Printed in black across rear cover, illustration near tail.

An unknown number of copies were published in late 1985.

Contents: Song-The Magic Machine-A Tragic Meeting-Never

It seems that Pig in a Pamphlet has the "Then I Gave Up and Started Drinking Heavily" subtitle.

Ok. Howard Fredrics describes in his unpublished biblio Then I Gave Up and Started Drinking Heavily like this:

Then I Gave Up And Started Drinking Heavily. Pittsburgh, PA: Pig In A Poke Press, 1985.

10 pg., 14 cm. Collection of poems. With an introduction by Harry Calhoun.

There's something wrong here because today I received Then I Gave Up and Started Drinking Heavily and it's different from those 2 chaps. My copy was printed in 1987 -not 1985- by Santa Anita Press. The contents are the same -and in the same order- as Pig in a Pamphlet plus "where to put it" and "I pour a drink and toast love".

It seems to me that Then I Gave Up and Started Drinking Heavily is a later reprint of Pig in a Pamphlet with two extra poems throw in. My copy has no intro nor colophon page, just the poems and "Santa Anita Press 1987".

 

[bospress.net]

Hi,
I have always felt that the Santa Anita imprint was a bootleg...

Also, I have not heard of the Howard Fredericks biblio. Please provide details..

Bill

 

[nymark]

I second Bill's thoughts. It's a bootleg and who the hell is Howard Fredericks?

 

[cirerita]

It's Fredrics, not Fredericks. I'll tell you the story later on...

 

[zoom man]

I need your help here.

Oh My God,
The World Really Is Coming To An End!!

;)

 

[bospress.net]

Hi Cirerita,
Please don't keep us hanging? What of this unpublished biblio? Does it bring everything to current?

Bill

 

[cirerita]

ok, I'll keep it short. I'm translating a book on affirmative action and my head is spinning.

Howard Fredrics is a music professor and I believe -though I may be wrong here- he has composed several classical tracks using B.'s material. Back in 1992 or 1993, he had to hand a PhD project and, luckily, he was allowed to do it on B. He decided to do a biblio covering everything from 1982 up to the present (1993), so the biblio covers the 1982-1993 period. I think it's well done -though there are a few inaccuracies- and there are a lot of entries which are NOT listed in Fogel nor in Krumanhsl -and not even in mjp's database.
I recently asked him why the biblio was not published and he said that he was too busy with the music career and never felt like devoting the time required to "polish" the biblio and find a publisher.

 

[HarryC13]

I'm the publisher of "Then I gave up and started drinking heavily"

Hi guys,

New to the forum but I couldn't resist replying to this. Yes, the one by Santa Monica Press is a bootleg. I got Buk to send me a bunch of poems for my magazine, Pig in a Poke, and when I saw the poems he sent, I decided to do a little booklet of his work. To clarify speculation about the title, I was pretty broke in those days, so when doing a full-scale little magazine like Pig in a Poke became financially impossible, I started putting out miniature versions of it, which I called Pig in a Pamphlet. Some of them were just sheets of paper folded into a little tract, and others -- like this one -- were small, cheaply produced booklets. So the name of the magazine was Pig in a Pamphlet, and the title of this edition was "Then I gave up and started drinking heavily," which is a line from one of the poems in the collection.

I think I printed 400 or 500 of them overall. I photocopied his little man drawing and a picture of a Jack Daniels bottle for the cover. The Santa Monica thing I had no knowledge of until I read someone referring to it online.

Interesting story behind this little pamphlet, though. Bukowski himself was very gracious about the publication and about Pig in a Poke in general. He said that Linda, his wife, said, "At last, a poetry magazine that I can read!" about the Pig. And at 50 cents a pop, it was selling well by my standards, so I figured I'd do another Bukowski edition. Apparently Bukowski told John Martin from Black Sparrow Press about my intentions. Next thing you know, I get this letter from Martin, telling me that he had the rights to Bukowski's book publications and basically telling me to limit my Buk publications to individual poems. Of course I wrote back and told him I hadn't intended to infringe on his empire. Martin did two interesting things next. He wrote back, considerably more friendly in tone, and explained that he was just trying to protect his own interests, and would I please look through the Black Sparrow catalog and pick any books I wanted. I must have picked a dozen books -- Paul Bowles, John Fante, Bukowski -- and he sent them to me.

The other interesting thing he did was order 200 copies of "then I gave up and began drinking heavily" and had Bukowski sign them. I've seen them turning up online for outrageous prices. I have two signed copies myself. And that's the final little nugget in this story. I stopped publishing Pig in a Pamphlet, probably around 1989 or 1990. In 1993 I left Pittsburgh for Key West, and somehow lost my signed copy. I wrote to Bukowski asking him if he would send another. So in a week or so, the signed copy showed up in my mailbox, but the chatty letter that I had come to anticipate wasn't there, only the copy. A few months later, of course, he died. He must have been very sick when he got my letter but he still signed the copy and sent it back to me.

Anyway, I hope this clears up some of the mystery and provides a little more insight into Bukowski history!!!

 

[chronic]

Interesting story. Thanks for the info and welcome to the forum.

 

[hank solo]

Next thing you know, I get this letter ...

The other interesting thing he did was order 200 copies of "then I gave up and began drinking heavily" and had Bukowski sign them.

Hi HarryC13.

Welcome to the forum. That's quite a first post.

Nice background story. And another canny move by JM. Reminds me of Amber's tale.

 

[hoochmonkey9]

great story.
welcome.

 

[cirerita]

Hi, Harry, glad to see you finally made it here!

still trying to find that Garnacha ;)

 

[Bukfan]

Welcome to the forum, HarryC13! Very interesting story and a great first post!

 

[bospress.net]

This is Harry Calhoun, right?

Welcome!

Bill

 

[Snowball Fight]

Very groovy anecdotes Harry!

 

[Father Luke]

He must have been very sick when he got my letter but he still signed the copy and sent it back to me.

Everything I know, and love, about Henry Charles Bukowski is
summed up in that one sentence from your personal experience.

Thank you.

 

[HarryC13]

Hi Bill, yep, it's me, Harry Calhoun. Small press footnote Harry Calhoun. :-)

Excited to have found this forum. Do you know me from the name on the pamphlet or do we know each other? Your name does sound familiar and I've heard of Bottle of Smoke.

Thanks!

Everything I know, and love, about Henry Charles Bukowski is
summed up in that one sentence from your personal experience.

Thank you.

Yes, one thing that touched me about Bukowski after reading all his tough-guy writings was how genuinely kind and decent a guy he was. I lost a lot of his correspondence in a freak storm in Key West and a basement flooding here in Raleigh ... I must have some negative karma attached to water damage ... but I still have a few of his letters. But yeah, from his letters and his actions he was a gracious soul.

I remember him telling me at one point that his wife had him off the hard stuff and he was drinking some kind of red wine. I can't remember, but he cited the exact vintage. Pretty cool.

 

[bospress.net]

Hi Bill, yep, it's me, Harry Calhoun. Small press footnote Harry Calhoun. :-)

Excited to have found this forum. Do you know me from the name on the pamphlet or do we know each other? Your name does sound familiar and I've heard of Bottle of Smoke.

Thanks!

Hi Harry,
Nope, we just met :)

I have seen your name on this publication and I'm a bit of a Bukowski Bibliophile. Somewhat stalker-like Buk bibliophile, that is...

Best,.
Bill

 

[Rekrab]

Great first post, great story. Welcome Harry. I too lost all my old Bukowski stuff, but it was to the need to buy groceries, not water damage. Same net result. I sympathize.

 

[Gary Eisenberg]

I'm WAY late on this, but I wanted to chime in my agreement about this story being a great one. And while you may have lost the material documentation of your exchange with Bukowski, Harry, you have something much more precious - that exchange itself, and your memories of it.