This recording consists of two CDs which run for approximately 150 minutes in total. The first CD is easily the best and features Bukowski’s reading of twenty of his poems plus an extended reading from his last novel Pulp. The second CD is shorter and more patchy in content. Bukowski reads from his novel Ham On Rye and he is encouraged by co-producer John Runnette to discuss well-trodden topics such as his thoughts on John Fante, Ezra Pound and his experiences in France a decade or so before. CD 2 was not included in the original release in 1993 and did not appear until the “special, expanded edition” was issued in 2000.
The recording was made to complement Bukowski’s latest collection Run With the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader (May 1993). The poems and stories were selected by Bukowski’s long time editor John Martin, and interestingly, the writing is arranged in chronological order- not according to the date it was written, but according to the age Buk appears in each text. At the time, Bukowski was a very sick man and dying of myelogenous leukaemia. He offered to record his material for five hours but only lasted three.
The recording does not appear to have been edited- if so, very unobtrusively. The sound is raw and unembellished. Throughout, Bukowski clears his throat, coughs, curses, slurs & often mispronounces his words. He tells the interviewer at one stage, “I sometimes slur words. I’m not good at talking.” Bukowski is asked to reread his brilliant poem ‘the genius of the crowd’ three or four times because he mispronounces the word “absurdity” as “absurbity”. He is conscious the word is coming up in his reading of the poem but he still stuffs up. The effect is humorous but destroys the great emotional impact that the poem may have on the reader. Pissed-off, Bukowsi bluntly tells his audience, which consists of his wife Linda Bukowski and John Runnette, “Fuck you guys, I mispronounced the words- too bad!”
Probably the best feature of the tape is that you can flip through the book and follow Bukowski’s reading of the twenty poems. This creates an intimate vibe between you and the speaker. It helps to establish the illusion that you know Bukowski better. Interspersed between the poems, the un-miced interviewer, presumably Runnette, asks Buk a series of questions about the usual- Celine, Whitman, his writing process, why he left the post office, his relationship with his father and the like. Most of this ground has been thoroughly stomped on previously and if you want to seek out the best collection of interviews with Bukowski you can't surpass David Stephen Calonne's (Editor) Charles Bukowski: Sunlight Here I Am/ Interviews & Encounters 1963-1993: http://georgedanderson.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/charles-bukowski-sunlight-here-i-am.html
Many page references are mentioned during the reading, but unfortunately, they were probably just working notes and do not match the current 2003 ECCO version of the book.
Find more accurate links below:
CD 1 Item #
|
Poem
|
Page no. from ECCO
collection
|
2
|
consummation of
grief
|
117
|
4
|
the Soldier, his
wife & the bum
|
171
|
6
|
the genius of the
crowd
|
185
|
9
|
rain
|
192
|
10
|
a radio with guts
|
192
|
12
|
the poetry
reading
|
272
|
14
|
short order
|
274
|
16
|
the strongest of
the strange
|
295
|
18
|
the last days of
the suicide kid
|
298
|
20
|
friendly advice
to a lot of young men
|
334
|
22
|
the most
|
362
|
24
|
the mockingbird
|
387
|
26
|
the proud thin
dying
|
399
|
28
|
helping the old
|
408
|
30
|
confession
|
418
|
32
|
fan letter
|
423
|
34
|
art
|
456
|
36
|
are you drinking?
|
466
|
38
|
Dinosauria, we
|
492
|
40
|
luck
|
495
|
I'm not sure why this CD is entitled UNCENSORED because Bukowski doesn't say anything outlandish or overly crude. Overall, he doesn't come across as the snarling, misanthropic pugilist whom we experience in many of his writings. He is genuinely funny, he chuckles at his own inadequacies and he offers great wit and insight into the human condition as he grimly faces his own certain & rapidly approaching death.
