Portions From a Wine-Stained Notebook (2 Viewers)

This help any

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it is rarer and earlier. Something tells me that this would have to be more valuable, but they are not and this confounds me....
bill, this is and has been my opinion on ARCs as well. if i have 1 of 25 ARCs , in the world, of women, it seems that it should be worth a bit more than a couple hundred dollars. but then again, what the hell do i know...
 
Holga? dear Holga?
No, no. It would have probably looked purple through the Holga...
I found out today that "I Meet The Master" is about one of Buk's meetings with Fante...

Soo... How is it?
Distracting (he refers to him as "Bante," which for some reason made it difficult for me to read) and probably at least partially fictionalized. It disappointed me. He tells the story in a more straightforward way in many other poems and short pieces.

Without spoiling anything for anyone, I have to honestly say that I only enjoyed about half of the pieces. But some of them are already familiar to most of us (Aftermath, 20 Tanks, Jaggernaut, Upon the Mathematics, etc.) so I count those among the half I wasn't very excited by. Jaggernaut is good if you haven't read it, as it Upon the Mathematics, so I guess how happy you'll be with this book depends on how much of it is new to you.

Where it fails for me is in the essays and introductions. Some of them are deadly dull and disingenuous. In my opinion they could have made much better selections as far as those are concerned.

Overall, of course, I would recommend it. Not as if anyone is waiting for that, ha. I know everyone reading this is going to buy it anyway. But there you go. I realize that's pretty unspecific, but I don't want to say too much before everyone has a chance to read it. Your mileage will almost certainly vary.
 
Yeah I'll pick it up regardless.

Seems a bit... unnecessary to refer to him as "Bante" but I've always been looking for more about their all too brief relationship.
 
so I see we finally got the hardcovers for Portions...

I wonder why they cracked? Somebody important had to say something.

THE HARDCOVER'S ONLY $18.20! Thats a damn steal! I cannot wait for this thing.

Portions From a Wine-Stained Notebook
Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-1990


Publisher City Lights Publishers

Format Hardcover
ISBN-10 0872864960
ISBN-13 9780872864962
Publication Date September 2008
List Price $26.00

Paperback - $16.95 $11.87 Save $5.08 (30%) - Coming soon Alert Me!

Hardcover - $26.00 $18.20 Save $7.80 (30%) - Coming soon Alert Me!
 
The Bukowski fanatics are too convincing, I guess. Now to help sell this puppy aout and make sure that this is not the last Bukowski nor the last City Lights hardcover.

This is quite something. They do not normally do hardcovers.

Bill
 
I know I mentioned to Garrett a few times, both via e-mail, correspondence with the City Lights website, and here, that a hard cover would be a great thing; nay, a necessary thing. Several others here must have done the same.
 
Bukowski, Charles PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK City Lights (Adult NONFICTION) Sep. 15, 2008 ISBN: 978-0-87286-492-4

More posthumous uncollected prose from the Dirty Old Man.

Calonne (English/Eastern Michigan Univ.; William Saroyan: My Real Work Is Being, 1983, etc.), who previously edited a volume of Bukowski's interviews, digs up a few more fragments from the author's vast--and scattershot--oeuvre. As with many "uncollected" selections, the results are a mixed bag, but Bukowski's gruff directness and take-no-crap attitude shine through. Discussing his style in "Basic Training," he writes, "I hurled myself toward my personal god: SIMPLICITY. The tighter and smaller you got it the less chance there was of error and the lie. Genius could be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way." Certainly, much of Bukowski's genius lay in his plainspoken, immediate, self-assured prose, but his constant attack on the literary establishment also earned him accolades--and scorn--from fellow writers and critics. He held special contempt for pretentious elitists, those, as Calonne eloquently notes in his illuminating introduction, "who tried to domesticate the sacred barbaric Muse: the disruptive, primal, archaic, violent, inchoate forces of the creative unconscious." In the more than 35 pieces that comprise the volume, Bukowski runs through all his favorite topics--drinking, fighting, women, horse-racing ("A track is some place you go so you won't stare at the walls and whack off, or swallow ant poison")--but he's at his most lucid and powerful when he explores the process of writing, both his own and others (Artaud, Hemingway, his hero John Fante). There's a neat deconstruction of Ezra Pound, excerpts from his "Notes of a Dirty Old Man" column and a peripatetic review of a Rolling Stones concert. Though a few of the selections are little more than ill-formed rants, probably originally scrawled across a bar napkin, there is plenty of the visceral, potent, even graphically sexual (tame readers beware of "Workout") material to satisfy fans.

Not for novices, but a welcome addition to Bukowski's growing library.


"Bukowski, Charles: PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK.(Book review)." Kirkus Reviews (August 1, 2008)
 
"Bukowski, Charles: PORTIONS FROM A WINE-STAINED NOTEBOOK.(Book review)." Kirkus Reviews (August 1, 2008)

I can't argue with the review, but why would Bukowski scrawl an essay across a bar napkin? Is it required that everything that he wrote was "Scrawled on a bar napkin". I could see if it was a poem, but a long essay? Now that is just odd.

That is about as odd as Bukowski living in a castle (wait for it...)

Bill
 
...he's at his most lucid and powerful when he explores the process of writing, both his own and others (Artaud, Hemingway, his hero John Fante). There's a neat deconstruction of Ezra Pound...
I found the pieces about other writers, the reviews and "tributes" to be the least interesting bits, but that's just me. Dry stuff, which you don't expect.
Not for novices, but a welcome addition to Bukowski's growing library.
"Bukowski's growing library" - that's funny. As if this juuust puts him over the top of having a large body of published work.

It will be interesting to see other reviews, since this is kind of an uneven grab-bag. Of course if it was 250 pages of pure genius the reviews would be the same, so I suppose it hardly matters.
 
I can't argue with the review, but why would Bukowski scrawl an essay across a bar napkin? Is it required that everything that he wrote was "Scrawled on a bar napkin". I could see if it was a poem, but a long essay? Now that is just odd.

That is about as odd as Bukowski living in a castle (wait for it...)
I think the reviewer is trying to be funny, hinting at Buk's barfly image.

Not too bad a review as reviews goes.

Thanks, cirerita...
 
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The Virginia Kirkus reviews are directed primarily toward librarians. Beware all, those 1,000 hc cps will not last long with this library review. Get your copy early!
 
Hardcover - Portions From A Wine-Stained Notebook

Does anyone know the deal why the hardcover is not available yet? The paperback is out on the website.

The hardcover usually is out before the paperback to allow more sales.

Any leads would be great.

Thanks
 
I just received a mail from City Lights an hour ago. The paperback is out now, but we still have to wait a bit longer for the hard cover.

I've decided to wait for the hard cover...
 
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paperback Portions available

hey guys--

this is just a quick note--and I see word has gotten out already -- but yes the paperback Portions of a Wine-Stained Notebook is available.

The hardcover will be ready in short order and you guys'll know it first.

Best,

Garrett Caples
City Lights Books
 
BookExpo America is the heir to the old and now defunct annual American Booksellers Association convention and trade book show. With the virtual demise of indie booksellers in America the ABA show morphed into the mostly national and international book rights fair of today. Very few vestiges of the old ABA conventions remain. The author signings are mostly for PR purposes to please agents and authors as very few booksellers attend this show and benefit from the free books at the signings.
 
Recieved my uncorrected proof today. There's a ton of stuff in here I have not previously read. I, for one, like the cover if it's the final proof.
 
Portions of a WSN hardback is in stock now!

Hello everyone:

forgive me if this is a double post (my first post seems to have disappeared). But: Portions of a Wine-Stained Notebook is now available in hardback, only through citylights.com. Hurry and get yours before they disappear!

As Ever,

Garrett Caples
Editor
City Lights Books
 
just got an alert the hardcover is ready to order from City Lights.
I just ordered mine...
 
$9 for domestic is painful too, but lawd I hate Amazon.com.

It should cost them $4 to mail it to me at most, so they are $5 too high on the shipping, but I do not want to be forced to buy this for $50 on ebay down the road....



...and From Garrett's post, it seems that Amazon may not get theirs. They list it as on order. It would be a shame to have them all sell and have Amazon not get any.

Still, although I have no doubt that 1,000 will sell, I cannot see them selling out THAT fast just through the site. If they are also selling to BN, Borders, etc nationwide, then I can see them selling out VERY fast. There are probably 1,000 big box bookstores around the country (not to mention outside the US), so one per location is not much....

Bill
 
just got an alert the hardcover is ready to order from City Lights.
I just ordered mine...

I too just got the hardcover alert and ordered a copy. It costs $18.20, but they charge $24.00 for standard shipping to Europe.
I was surprised by the shipping costs, but they write on their website that: "Shipping charges are determined by weight to give the best, most cost effective service to our customers." - So it must be a heavy book...
 
shipping was steep, but I want to make sure I get one. I don't want to leave it until amazon has them.
 
Just ordered mine.. $9.00 to ship it to the east coast. shipping cost are going thru the roof because of the damn fuel surcharges, even though oil prices are dropping. still I'm excited. and to think that "little ol' we'all" were somewhat responcible for this HC version.
 
International shipping is a tad too expensive, don't you think? I think I'll get it via Amazon...
I think so too! The price of the book is $18.20 and shipping cost to Europe is $24.00. They write on their website that: "Shipping charges are determined by weight to give the best, most cost effective service to our customers."
So I guess it must be a heavy book. Anyway, I would hate to see this hardcover slip by me, so I ordered a copy. I'll just have to cut down on women and drink...;)

shipping was steep, but I want to make sure I get one. I don't want to leave it until amazon has them.
My thoughts exactly!
 
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Just ordered mine.. $9.00 to ship it to the east coast. shipping cost are going thru the roof because of the damn fuel surcharges, even though oil prices are dropping. still I'm excited. and to think that "little ol' we'all" were somewhat responcible for this HC version.

Can we get a statement from City Lights certifying that? Garrett? It would be nice to have in writing!

Bill
 
Yes it is pricey to ship Internationally. I was going to order the paper back too, but that put my order to over $75... so just the Hardback in a bombproof box for me.
 

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