The People Look Like Flowers At Last (1 Viewer)

Curious to read others opinions on the supposedly last (?) Ecco/Bukowski posthumous release THE PEOPLE LOOK..., I know Bill Roberts was reading a proof copy, I'm 48 pages into my proof copy and having a difficult time believing they saved the 'best for last'...
Anyone else reading it?
Back to page 49, even if it's not 'his' best, it's great to be reading 'new' Bukowski (even though he's been dead for 12 years...) Wow, strange it's been 12 years already...
Ecco/John Martin told 'us' the best poems of his writing career would show up in the final 5 releases... Having a difficult time believing that (subjective, I know...).
 
Just curious -- where did you hear Ecco/Martin state that the last poems published were going to be the "best?" Seems like a risky thing to say. Trying to live up to a statement like that would meet with almost certain failure.
 
And damn it, I put this book as a 'want' on ABE a year ago, and check still, and nada.... Please, can I buy your copy Effects, or Bill? or direct me to a copy?!
Thanks, and I can't wait to read it
(And I don't believe it'll be the last we hear from Buk,
from Buk and ecco, yes, from Buk, no)

I have the other 4 ecco releases as ARCs and want/need this one.
Thanks
 
i'm gonna keep mine (also have the other 4 proofs..) but if I come across another I'll forward the details...
Don't think much of the cover either. The great covers of HAM ON RYE, WOMEN, POST OFFICE... do not have company with this release...
 
in the letter to gerald locklin, which is in, sunlight here i am, as c.b. on c.b., bukowski writes, "Martin of BS told me, 'i've got so many of your poems on backlog that if you died today I could bring out 5 or 6 more books and all of them would be good.' of course, he's a fan. maybe only 3 of them would be good." bukowski right again...?
 
k, thanks guys,
could u mayb at least scan the pathetic cover...

peoplelooklikeflowers.jpg


so who deleted this the first time?
nobody has power to do so except for mjp, correct?

this doesnt make any sense. Am I not allowed to post this?
as long as nothing in the book gets posted? I don't see what the problem is.
 
I think your original post may be in the database on the old server. I thought I had it locked down, but it's possible a few posts were lost in translation...
 
I like the circles, and it's colorful. Not sure I like that stylized figure of a person. It's not bad. I haven't seen the poems yet.
 
I agree with you David, circles are great looking but the figure of a person...hmmm. When will this book arrive in Sweden...? Hey theeffects - horrible looking avatar you have, where did you get hold of that one...?
---HankD
 
Did Barbara Martin design that one also? I know the last 3 were co-designed with her and High Design from NYC. The first Ecco, Sifting..., was all her doing. I know she probably has no say over quality of paper, etc.
It looks like her style/touch.
 
opinions are like assholes...(we all have one)

I find the cover 'empty', does nothing.
Post Office, Ham on Rye, Women... great covers; this has nothing to do with anything, a 'lame' looking figure of a person with 2 circles?!
BSP=great years (minus PULP, horrible!)
ECCO=not so great years...
 
Is it just me of does anybody get the idea of rings inside of a tree trunk while looking at the cover?

and thanks david, for pointing that figure of a person out. Actually i never saw it until you mentioned it.

as for the poems in the book,
they are truly amazing.
theres some really old ones in there.

I referenced a few of the uncollected poems that were in the book in the other
people look like flowers thread...but now I can't find it.
 
I'm halfway thru' the table of contents, and so far there are 2 poems from the 50's, 15 poems from the 60's and more than 20 from the 70's. I don't know about the quality, though, but sure Martin had in mind saving the best for last. It's the only posthumous book with so many poems from the 60's. I'll give a more accurate report when I'm done...
 
Contents:
one
for they had things to say 3
evening class, 20 years later 4
the snow of Italy 6
near a plate glass window 8
beef tongue 10
the 1930s 13
people as flowers 15
acceptance 18
life at the P.O. 21
the minute 23
too near the slaughterhouse 25
a future congressman 26
stranger in a strange city 28
just another wino 33
it is not much 35
the bull 37
the people, np 39
you might as well kiss your ass goodbye 41
purple glow 44
one thousand dollars 48
grip the dark 49
the dwarf with a punch 52
the elephants of vietnam 56
breakfast 57
inverted love song 58
Salty Dogs 60
brainless eyes 62
unbelievable 64
war and peace 67
the harder you try 70

two
all the little girls 73
no more of those young men 76
legs 80
Jane's shoes 82
Rimbaud be damned 83
bewitched in New York 98
don't worry, baby, I'll get it 100
the telephone message machine 104
the nice girl who came in to change the sheets 105
an agreement on Tchaikovsky 108
love song to the woman I saw Wednesday at the racetrack 110
posession 112
six 113
man mowing the lawn across the way from me 114
the girl outside 116
the chicken 118
an ancient love 120
match point 121
I also like to look at ceilings 122
no Cagney, me 123
soup, cosmos, and tears 125
peacock or bell 128
purple and black 130
fulfillment 132
yours 135
kissing me away 137
goodbye, my love 144
heat 145
the police helicopter 146
ah 148
of course 149
the dream, the dream 150
note on the tigress 151

three
poem for my daughter 155
sheets 158
sick leave 160
my father 162
the old woman 164
what made you lose your inspiration 166
another poem about a drunk and then I'll let you go 169
dead dog 162
I live in a neighborhood of murder 177
the bombing of Berlin 178
all right, Camus 179
quits 181
Adolf 184
the anarchists 186
perfect white teeth 188
4 blocks 190
you cant force your way through the eye of the needle193
two kinds of hell 195
my faithful indian servent 198
a plausible finish 200
another one of my critics 202
fog 204
free? 208
imported punch 210
it was an UNDERWOOD 212
the creation coffin 213
the seven horse 215
the suicide 218
overcast 224
the final word 226
fingernails, nostrils, shoelaces 227
after receiving a contributers copy 229
poor night 232
you write many poems about death 235

four
dog 239
the hatred for Hemingway 240
looking at the cats balls 244
contributers notes 247
on beer cans and sugar cartons 249
pay your rent or get out 253
note on a door knocker 255
the American Flag Shirt 256
age 257
the dogs bark knives 258
the hog in the hedge 260
I never bring my wife 263
an interview at 70 267
two views 269
van Gogh and nine innings 271
9 a.m. 273
lousy day 274
sadness in the air 276
the great debate 280
our deep sleep 283
the sorry history of myself 285
law 287
a great writer 289
a gigantic thirst 291
eulogies 293
a residue 294
1990 special 296
passage 297
a most dark night in April 298
sun coming down 299
 
Thanks for posting the table of contents! There's a few I recognize. And finally "Rimbaud be damned" has been collected. I can hardly wait 'till April...:)
 
thanks, HC.

ok, here's the basic data:
3 poems from the 50's [two from a Harlequin issue]
At least 21 poems from the 60's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At least 28 poems from the 70's [that's more normal, though]

A few brief comments: not many poems from the 80's and early 90's, just a few. I do believe now that MArtin was indeed saving the best for last. It seems to me this could be The RoomingHouse Madrigals Revisited: 1957-1979

As a researcher, there are two interesting items here:
"Evening Class, 20 Years Later" (Epos, 1961)
"My Faithful Indian Servant" (Brand X, 1962)

For some reason, these poems are listed in Dorbin's -so he had access to them- but they're missing in the Special Collections Department at UCSB. Lost or stolen? Who knows? Luckily, they had a manuscript version of "My Faithful Indian Servant" -which I duly copied- but the Epos poem was nowhere to be found. Probably Martin didn't know this -and couldn't care less- but it's good to see that REALLY hard-to-find poem is finally collected.
 
thanks for both of your efforts, henrychinaski and cirerita.

the roominghouse revisited? now that makes the collection even more appealing to get hold of!
 
I missed the earlier thread on this. Just curious as to how you all got your advance copies? Is the first printing due out in April, 2007? Thanks

Mark
 
There are review (PROOF) copies that ECCO circulates, eventually they end up on eBay. I'm sure there are a few reviewers that don't want them, don't read them, so they sell them for 10, 15 bucks and we in turn buy them for 20, 25, 30 bucks...
I have copies of all the ECCO 'proof' copies, basically I hunted them down because I didn't want to wait 6 months or a year for the hardcovers to be released... which of course I also bought!

Something that I'm interested/curious about; how many PROOF copies does ECCO publish of the BUK titles? Anyone know, have a GOOD guess on that process...?
 
7? No, probably more like a few hundred. Honestly, I have no idea, but I think it's safe to assume that Ecco has a much larger advance mailing than Black Sparrow ever did. Those "proofs" go to reviewers.
 
I'm pretty sure if there were only 7, I wouldn't have gotten a copy for 20 bucks... I would like to know the actual number (Bill, you know?), I agree it's probably around 300-500? Maybe I'm wrong...
 
as I said, there are at least 2-3 potential books of good poems and another 2-3 of mediocre poems. you heard it here first, too :D
 
Did the little birdy tell you who the publisher will be? This is the last one in the line Ecco announced, but I suppose that could have changed.

Why stop until the cash cow is milked dry! :\

On the other hand, I want to read everything they'll publish, so I can't complain. There was something comforting about having an end in sight though. Heh. I may have to update that fucking database for the rest of my life... ;)
 
wouldn't it be great if after ECCO dropped the ball on the past 5, someone else published the FINAL 2, 3, 9, 12 volumes.....? John, it's time to come out of retirement! Your still a YOUNG man...
(some guys respond to ass-kissing)
Remember the good ol' days, nice hardcover sets, quality trade editions with decent paper inside.
 
I don't hate that cover. It's certainly not as bad as some of the other Ecco covers.
They should have left out that corny human figure, that would have improved it a lot if you ask me...
 

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