Thirst Trap (2 Viewers)

his well-documented womanizing and racism
"Well-documented racism?" This guy just pulled it out of his ass. And I dare say Buk wasn't much of a "womanizer" too.
I bet Jason regrets Bukowski wasn't a big movie producer, then he could associate Buk's "womanizing" with merciless use of poor actresses and kick him in the balls (verbally) for that also.

Why does he still appeal to so many people?
The question that will keep them all jaded and baffled until they die. The folks that don't drink or read Bukowski, that is.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bukowski’s veneration of alcohol and alcoholic writers is almost entirely male-centric. For him, the intersection of machismo and liquor is where worthy, complex art happens.
WTF?

he continues to attract fans—not necessarily readers—drawn to the image of the writer as the dirty-talking poet laureate of skid row.
Bukowski attracts assholes too, sure, but which popular artist doesn't.

Perhaps without meaning to be, this collection (On Drinking) is a record of just how often American culture has historically venerated, and even rewarded, sickness in artists.
So, drinking is sickness? Oh, well, then it's a very SICK world we live in. I can think of much worse reasons one can call this world SICK.

He was an addict, partly spurred by fans who cheered on his messy antics. Maybe they believed it was all an act or a persona, but as On Drinking makes clear, that wasn’t the case. Bukowski was sick, he suffered, and audiences exploited that. That doesn’t excuse the ugly comments he made throughout his life about women or people of color, but it points to a systemic problem in American pop culture.
This guy is hopeless.

On Drinking also throws into stark relief Bukowski’s casual misogyny and racism. In one interview, he describes himself as “antiblack, also antiyellow,” and admits he doesn’t like Black people because “they drive four in a car. And they hit my bumper.”
That's the ultimate proof that Buk was a racist?

I wish this Diamond guy gave the sources of these quotes, to let us see the context.
I bet Bukowski also wouldn't like white (or red, yellow, green, etc.) people who would hit his bumper.

Would readers still care about Bukowski had he not been a notorious drunk?
Yes.
To Mr. Diamonds's huge surprise, readers (I believe most of them) are not attracted by Bukowski's drinking but by Bukowski's writing.
 

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